Wii vs family

From the title you will have figured out that I have a new conflicting interest. I was very anti-Wii until one landed under our Christmas tree. Troy called it "a Christmas miracle." How can I take back his miracle? Now...that little machine is reaking havoc on my life. I no longer have time to care for my children, go to the bathroom or brush my teeth because I am way too busy mastering Guitar Hero. I had no idea that I was truly destined to be a professional drum player in our new band "Hot Soup." It is in these small and simple ways that our destinies are often discovered. My children, though dirty and hungry from lack of attention, have also discovered their hidden talents. See below...

Troy "boxing" with his sister Kati. Good entertainment for the onlookers...highly recommended.

Aeva - our backup guitarist should any of us become ill and unable to perform our band duties. Clothes are optional in our band.

Other "back ups."

Aeva impersonating the person who supposedly made our "miracle" possible.

Our happy family before the "miracle" of wasted time arrived in our home. God Bless Wii.

Bailey Farm Fieldtrip

Gracie got to go with her "Pretty school" (preschool) class to the local tree farm. They went on a sleigh ride, saw a herd of elk (also conveniently owned by the sleigh driver). They finished of the festivities with hot chocolate and donuts (one of Gracie's all time favorites). I have attached pictures below...once again, in the incorrect order. Hope you enjoy them anyway.

Donut powder face...a must with all small children. However, I being the responsible mother that I am, attempted to control the powder fest with a small napkin. Definite waste of time.



The "hind end" of a large bull elk. I honestly think he was standing this way on purpose. He has worked hard to have such a shapely back side. This is obvious by all of the female elk that seem to stay close by. Then again, he was the only bull elk allowed on the farm. Might make him undeservedly (assuming that is the correct spelling) cocky.


Pit stop for the horses. Apparently I was the only parent forcing my child to hop down for a photo. Oh well, Gracie has learned to humor me.


Gracie got to be the co-horse driver person. I am somewhat illiterate when it comes to "farm talk." I prefer to stay away from large, hairy animals...their odor tends to get in my nose.

Hangin out on the sleigh. This was the last time we saw Gracie's mittens. Let me know if you see any sitting on the side of the road!

What?! Move the box?

So, I watched these 2 special children last Monday. For 8 hours or so I removed them from the blue box, explained that this was a poorly chosen activity and then escorted them in another direction. Only minutes later I would find myself repeating the same process.

I was starting to wonder about their sanity. What was so fun about tottering on the edge of a plastic box, getting sopping wet and almost falling to their deaths? Later that afternoon, someone stopped by to visit (I can't even remember who the genius was). The children once again began their prohibited activity. I looked at my guest and said, "can you believe this? They have been doing this all day! They are going to kill themselves!" The guest looked at me and said, "can't you move the box?" WHAT? Move the box? Would that actually work? Had I really sat here for 8 hours trying to make them understand when all I really had to do was "move the box?" AAAHHHHHH! Now I know whose sanity to question. I am losing it at such a young age! Can you imagine me in 20 more years? Stay tuned...it could get quite pathetic.

Chuck E. Cheese (you don't go for the food)

So, as many of you read in Monday's post...it was Maddie's 7th Birthday. She had a party with her friends at Chuck E. Cheese. I think they should call it Yuck E. Cheese Cardboard Pizza. But the food was obviously not the purpose of our visit. Where else can young children run around like crazy, yell at the top of their lungs, win a bunch of tickets and then take those tickets and buy crappy toys? You got it... Yuck E. Cheese. Do I sound negative? Sorry, just thought it was funny to watch them get WAY too excited over plastic frogs. Anyway, we actually had a lot of fun and thought we would share some photos.

Maddie with Chuck E. Cheese himself. He was still learning the Chuck E. Cheese dance but did well overall.

Our group of angels.

A child size air hockey table. One of our personal favorites.

Maddie just scored (if you couldn't tell). I think this was supposed to be a "happy" look.

Couldn't resist a few shots of little Miss Aeva. She quite enjoyed the plastic motorcycle.

Death by Running

It has become apparent that I have signed up for voluntary suicide (then again, suicide is usually voluntary or it would be called murder or an accident). The moab half marathon is one of my favorite races BUT only when properly prepared. This year I signed up with the distinct knowledge that I would not get in (it is a lottery type deal and so many people apply that your odds of getting in aren't always that great). Anyway, Karma has once again proven me wrong. I am definitely in the race. In fact, I was happily asleep one night when my dear, sweet husband came into the room and announced our acceptance. "What?! We got in? Damm....(does it do any good to type the first 4 letters of a bad word and then leave out the last 2?)! That means that I HAVE to start running!" Don't get me wrong, I have been doing some form of physical activity but it would be more in the "Oprah walk" category. Nothing mind blowing. In fact, I had Troy take a picture of me in a full on sprint (yes, I qualify that as sprinting) so that I could share the misery with each and every one of you. Oh the pain! Now, there were times when I was in shape and could run 13miles without feeling significant discomfort but those times have passed. I am now over 30 (surprise, surprise) which should make me "unqaulified" for such a race. So, if any of you see my out running in the snow...please do not splash slush on me. I will be dreaming of running in a warm sunny place (at the pace of an 8 minute/mile). Dream on!

Maybe I can switch to the "wheelchair half marathon." I can coast down the hills and if I get to anything uphill I will get out and push. Any possibility that is illegal? Shouldn't be...they will still beat me. Anyway, to anyone who may be in my same boat...God bless us! By the way, this caramel corn that I am eating is fabulous (don't worry, it is a part of my balanced, marathon diet)!

The power of a spoon (with chocolate on it)!

I am not sure why I find Aeva eating to be so entertaining BUT here is yet another blog with this cute little girl placing food all over her own face. About a week ago, I made the mistake of giving her her OWN spoon. Watch out! This girl wants no "help" and if you take the food out of her immediate vicinity... hyperventilation and loud squeeling will commence.

Such innocence. This is one of her first encounters with instant chocolate pudding. This also happens to be one of her mothers' personal favorites. Shove milk into blender, add powder (do not be concerned if half of the powder ends up in a small cloud above the blender), blend until you want to stop. Pour into a TOO SMALL bowl (this is critical as it allows for the traditional mocking from my husband. I always pick a bag or bowl that won't quite hold the intended contents without sufficient spillage). Stick pudding into the fridge until it gets a big, thick boogery film on top and then, eat it up! A fail-proof recipe that turns out perfectly every time.

Oh, don't forget that in order to thoroughly enjoy the pudding you must smear it from left to right with your tongue. See above photo if any clarification is needed.

You must also show that you have completely swallowed before proceeding to the next bite.

Finally, go in for some more! Best treat ever!

OH, by the way...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADDIE! THE BIG 7! WE LOVE YOU.

Can it get any worse?

So, our ward had its annual Christmas party and the primary children were asked to sing a few songs and do a "nativity" scene. I am in the Primary Presidency and so it was my job to get some wonderful pictures of all the angelic children. So, take a look for yourselves...

Yup, every single picture is dark with small, glowing eyes from all of the little angels. Apparently "red eye reduction" doesn't work from 15 feet away. Guess we won't be "enlarging" any of these beauties. Sorry, kids. You looked a lot better than my camera gives you credit for.

Installing a husband

My friend from WA sent me this. I thought it was "blog worthy." I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

INSTALLING A HUSBAND:

Dear Tech Support , Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0 . In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as: · Romance 9.5 and · Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as : · NBA 5.0, · NFL 3.0 and · ESPN 4..1 .. Also Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2. 6 simply crashes the system. · Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail. What can I do? Signed, Desperate.

DEAR DESPERATE , First, keep in mind, · Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while · Husband 1.0 is an operating system. Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme.html and try to download Tears 6.2 and do not forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. · If that application works as designed , Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5. However, remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5 , Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1 .. · Please note that Beer 6. 1 is a very bad program that will download the Farting and Snoring Loudly Beta. Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.) In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 -program These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0 . In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications qu ickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend · Cooking 3.0 and · Hot Lingerie 7.7. Good Luck! Tech Support

Good stuff.

Snooper

One of the 4 people in this picture is a "snooper." Even worse..."a snooper in denial!" Any guesses on which of these angels it might be? OK, I will give you a few hints. This person is not looking at the camera (a true sign of guilt). That means that sweet Madelyn is safe. Next hint - this person doesn't have long hair. Oh good, Gracie is off the hook. That leaves 2 more suspects. Hmmmm. Last hint...the snooper must be tall enough to look at "prohibited" items that might be on the counter (a very tall counter).

TROY IS A SNOOPER!

The worst part...he pretends to be innocent.

First offense - "Oh honey, did you forget that people in this house are able to read?" His defense when he finds and reads a list of family names and possible purchased items listed in minute detail.

Second offense - an innocent package is sitting on the counter awaiting some festive Christmas wrap. It is addressed to someone who does not live at our home address. "What is this?" I hear him say. But it is too late. He has "SNOOPED" again. "Honey! What are you doing?!!! Is your name ___?" He looks up with his innocent, puppy dog eyes. He seems to say "whatever do you mean? Was I not to look at this?" My trust has been betrayed yet again.

It is at times like this that I must remind myself that my smile on Christmas morning comes from being with my family (I'll be it, a snooping family) and not from whatever might be hiding behind all that paper. I love you, honey.

NOW, PAY ATTENTION TO THE NEW RULES!

1 - YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO GET THE MAIL UNTIL JAN 1, 2009

2 - YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO READ ANYTHING UNTIL JAN 1, 2009

3 - IF THE DOORBELL RINGS AND YOU FIND A SMALL PACKAGE ON THE STEP. DO NOT TOUCH! POISON!

Merry Christmas!

Ramen Noodles

We have found another favorite food at our house - RAMEN NOODLES. These little people have a tremendous ability to suck things in at high speeds! If you have anyone in your house under the age of 2...give them a noodle and stand back.

Once the hunger really hits...sucking one noodle at a time will no longer suffice. "Shoveling" becomes the preferred method.

Highly nutritious meals make mouths happy. How else are you going to feed 3 little girls for only 0.20 cents? Gotta love it. Don't worry, we had fruits and vegetables all summer long. It is now time for the high fat, artery clogging carbs!

Is my mail man black?

Now, I realize this may be a delicate topic and I hope no one is offended BUT I am starting to believe that my third born child is half African American. I have been watching her hair grow for almost 18 months now and...no improvements. In fact, I am having to comb out lots of tight, little, curly knots! They tend to multiply after naps and when she wakes up each morning. I may be causing some trauma because every time I come at her with the brush/comb she starts saying "OW!" and grabs the back of her head. PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) in 30 years is becoming a definite possibility. I do not recall my other two children having this problem. If I have any African American blog readers...how do I fix this? I am thinking I may put little corn rows all over, add a few beads at the end and call it good.

P.S. Happy Birthday Grandma Carole...We love you!

I did it!

Yeah! I changed my background! Thanks Amanda. Now I am only considered "slow" instead of "retarded." Thanks for your help!

Anyone bored enough to help a clueless, idiotic fellow blogger?

OK...I have tried for the fifteenth time and I still can't get the background on my blog changed (isn't anyone else tired of the brown and pink stars?). Anyway, I found a cute fall background...couldn't get it to work. Found a cute winter background...nope - no can do. And now I have found a Christmas background that for the life of me I can't get to show up on my blog page. Everyone else seems to be able to change their background without difficulty. In fact, I have come to believe that a few of you may even be rubbing it in a bit (way too many cute background changes happening). SO, I am ready to confess. I have officially developed a complex about the whole thing. I had no idea until now (well maybe I suspected it) that I was mentally handicapped. If anyone out there is bored enough to clue me in on the "secret" of changing a stupid blog background - I am ready to go. HELP!

My children, on the counter? NO!

I realize that this picture makes it appear as though I allow my children to lounge around on the counter top. However, I must say that as they are walking, crawling and lying around on the counter top I am always within diving distance...you know, to catch them in case they miscalculate and fall to their death. So, now that this matter has been clarified, I can be renominated as "Mother of the Year."

What? I am not supposed to put my knife in the toaster?

Gracie's "pretty school" took a field trip to the local fire station. Please join us for a complimentary tour of our findings. (Warning: Pictures are not guarenteed to be in any sort of chronological order as my husbands computer has a mind of its own and does whatever it wants).

After the tour, you get to choose a toy from a random bag of items that have been donated. This was an unexpected surprise for the children. Gracie found herself a Belle doll from 1920...we have considered this to be a priceless addition to our huge bin of stuffed animals/objects.

The final line up...each child with his/her new treasure. Had I known that they would like anything you could pull out of a bag, my Christmas shopping would have been done differently.

The customary pose of each child "driving the fire engine." Can't pass this one up.

and, of course, holding on to the side of the truck.

Apparently this is where all of the "burned" people go.

Aeva has spotted the camera in my hand and is coming in for the kill.

The tour of the bathroom. Also an unexpected bonus. This is where the children informed the friendly fireman that all daddy's, in general,

"make the bath water too hot."

"Children, do not grab this handle as it will spill hot oil all over your body." This discussion helped launch a few nights of bad dreams.

It is with much regret that I tell you the following. I was unable to get a picture of the fireman sticking the knife down into the toaster. A wonderful display of what not to do at home. He followed this by placing the knife dangerously close to the plug in the wall. He warned all the children against any such activities.

As a mother of 3 small children I was relieved when one of the children summed up the discussion by saying, "don't worry Mr Fireman, sir....if we wear our Iron Man gloves while we put the knife in the plug, nothing can hurt us!"

If our house is not burned down and none of our children are admitted to the hospital with third degree burns...I will be very thankful on this wonderful Thanksgiving Day.

We love you all. Happy Thanksgiving!

Our Carnivore (I had to look up the spelling for that -how pathetic)!

Our Aeva, at the tender age of 16 months....

Has discovered cold cuts.

In fact, she has even decided to give them a try. Perhaps she will consider including them as a part of her daily, balanced diet.

Yes, she did like them. This is demonstrated by the above clump of 7 slices that she inhaled simultaneously. It is a good thing that she is "big boned" like her mother and can support such a spontaneous and rash intake of food.

My 4th of folder 4

A few weeks ago I was tagged and told to post the 4th picture in my 4th folder. So, here it is. This is my dad (Big Ken) holding Gracie Rett when she was only 3 months old. I found a lot of other fun pictures while I was looking back. Sometimes it is fun to take a few minutes and look at all of your old photos. I have a great family and friends. There is a lot to be thankful for. Thanks, Vicki for tagging me.

Dressing Up

Aeva found some of the Halloween costumes and fell in love with Maddie's hat. She walked around for a good 5 minutes with the gigantic thing bobbing around on her head. She thought it was awesome. At least that is how I interpreted her reaction. Can't get enough of these cute kids.

Aeva, starring as Little Bo Peep

Pocahontas Haun

So, Gracie went to "pretty school" (preschool) where they learned about the Indians and Pilgrims. Apparently there was a story about how the Indians helped the Pilgrims with their houses and gardens but, that's all she can remember. "Besides, mom, it was just a story." Then they proceeded to make indian costumes out of paper bags. Gracie was quite impressed with her results and agreed to let me share them with you. See attached photos.

Anyone else tired?

So, this is what happens when your 16 month old wakes up at 5:00 AM and decides to play. Subsequently, at approximately 10:00 AM she falls asleep on the couch and expects everyone else to be very quite while she "rests." We have decided that we still like her enough to keep her around. How much cuter can they get?

In a few hours I will be able to post a separate blog with what her father looks like while sleeping on the couch. Should be just as cute.

Trick - or - Treat

So, I have noticed that all the other blogging moms have already posted their Halloween photos. I have therefore waited so that mine could be special (I prefer that adjective over "late"). Anyway, here are my little ones in their various degrees of disguise. Maddie is Mary Poppins or Little Bo Peep depending on who she is talking to. Gracie is a "nice" witch. Aeva is a dino. She liked the addition of a tail. By the way, I only have 3 girls SO that means that the older (well - more mature) girl dressed as "the weather" is our aunt Kati and the 2 boys are my nephews (Parker and Garrett).