It's All Coming To An End........

I guess that I am really going to have to bug my Mom today to get those pictures from Christmas time. I am not liking the fact that I don't have a camera right now. It has been MIA for way too long!! I sure hope that someone didn't steal it from us. Christmas was good for our family. Yes it was smaller for the kids, but everyone still had a great time. We were able to go to West Yellowstone to celebrate this year! It was so much fun and very exciting.

We ended up leaving on Christmas Eve for the drive up to Yellowstone, since there was a HUGE storm coming in the next day when we had planned to leave. So in a matter of less than 3 hours we got a lot of things done around the house and stuff ready to go. We did:

• 2 full loads of laundry
• cleaned out the van
• ran to get treats
• ran back to Target to get socks
• packed all 5 of us
• got all the presents wrapped and in the van
• got gas
• got on the road with all of our kids in the van
• and even managed to get lunch!!
  

I am getting tired all over again of just reading what we did to leave early.

So we got on our way after we ate some great McRibs!! It is really the only time of the year that I actually want to go to McD's. The ride up into Idaho was great and it was really only the last 60 miles or so that was hard to drive. There was a big snow storm that was not fun for Steve to drive in, but I tried to be calm so he was calm too. We did get into West Yellowstone and got to our condo just fine. Mom and everyone else were a little behind us but we all got there safe and sound.

Christmas Eve was fun. We all pitched in and ordered our pizza for dinner. Let me tell you that it was some good pizza and a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner for all of us. Card games, Clue and more were the agenda for the evening. The girls got their new jammies, still matching of course. I think it is one of the last years that I am going to be able to do matching ones for the girls, so I love it while it lasts.

Christmas morning was fun. We tried to get almost all the presents unwrapped before the Cinnamon rolls were done. The girls had a great time and really understood what it was all about that morning. Hannah loved all of her new Princess Barbie dolls. Ruby loved all of her Handy Manny stuff that she got. It was all over for Katy when she opened the Little Einsteins piano. I cheated and got all of my presents for my anniversary, so I got to enjoy more pieces to the Nativity set that I started getting last year. Steve had so much fun getting the new Batman movie and Heroes season 2 for Christmas along with a few new Cars for his collection of Cars.

The rest of the day was spent watching movies and playing games. The girls got baths thanks to grandma! One at a time of course, but baths still the same. Then it was time for another fun night with Katy. I remembered during this short trip of why Katy sleeps in her own bed now. She was all over the place. I got the death roll in my side, back, and head those nights along with Steve too. I missed my King bed if I am going to be honest!! Katy eventually found a comfortable spot sleeping at our feet. Whatever works right?!?!?

The day after Christmas was time for our Christmas present from Mom and Dad. It was a whole day of snowmobiling into Yellowstone park!! We found out after we got home that there had been earthquakes going on the whole day we were in the park. I have never had more fun in my life! I love Yellowstone during the summer but in the winter it was beautiful!! Maybe it was the snow or the fact that there were way less people in the park or a little of both, but it was awesome. Of course, I wanted to drive my own snowmobile and that is what happened. I was riding right behind our tour guide, Conrad, so it was fun to see most things before everyone else. We saw a bald eagle, her 8 foot in diameter nest, trumpter swans, bison that were 10 feet away from us, and of course all the geysers.

We got to Old Faithful right around lunch time and had a few minutes before it went off. It was so cold, but we went out with all the other crazy people to stand and watch it blow on a cloudy day. The wind shifted a few minutes before it went off and it was blowing towards us. Steve started backing up a few minutes before and I was glad that he did. As the first big part blew it started raining on most of the people. We just kept walking faster and got out of there. Who cares! We will see it again in the summer, and it was a little hard to see anyway because of the steam coming out. We went over to the little cafe for lunch and got our order in before the huge crowds got there. Steve and I had a little laugh since everyone else that got there were completely covered in frozen water from head to toe!!

The ride back into West Yellowstone was fun. That was when we got to see the bison close up. They were just on the other side of the road and there were probably about 100 of them. It was so awesome to see that big of an animal right there at your fingertips. Yes I did get lots of pictures too! From there it was a ride over to the Firehole! It was so pretty in there too. There was a huge waterfall that was still going in the cold weather and then we found out there was a great swimming hole there too in the summer. I can't wait to take the kids.

Driving all day long was so much fun. I got up to 39 mph on my snowmobile and Steve pushed his up to 41 mph. I wish that the roads would have been a little smoother, so I could have gone faster. I love speed and driving!! Guess it is from all those drives across the country as a kid. Our tour guide didn't think that I was going to keep up but after I got the hang of giving the gas with my thumb, I was in business. Steve had a great time too and it was a super fun day!! It was the BEST Christmas present I have gotten in a long time.

The next day was a long drive home while the weather was good. We made okay time and the kids were ready to get out of the van. All in all it was a great few days. A needed break for Steve and I from all the issues at home. I can't wait for my Mom to send over the pictures so I can add them all.

Merry Christmas!!

Polar Express comes to life!

So Hannah had a special treat today!

It was actually a great morning. I went to the gym this morning (and a SPIN class that kicked my toosh!) but it felt good to get back after 10 days after my sore toe. When I got home, Ruby was wandering around the house in the dark (it's still cloudy). She is getting really fun. For some reason in the past month she has really blossomed with full sentences and big words, as well as singing songs in their entirety. This morning she serenaded "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" word for word while eating her corn pops. I am more and more amazed by my two year old everyday!

Alicia and I decided to take a trip to Cabelas since it is really close by, and it just so happens Santa was going to be there from 10am-3pm. After watching the Polar Express last night (as well as every day this week, gotta love TiVo!) the girls have been really excited about seeing Santa. So we loaded them up in the van and headed north. :)

After about 10 minutes on the road we arrived! Cabelas is a lot of fun because there are so many stuffed animals there and such it is almost like going to an exhibit. On top of that they have a huge aquarium and live fish that the girls love to feed by throwing quarters into a machine that dispenses fish food that they then throw into the water. We actually passed on that today because of the anticipation of a long line to see the Jolly Guy himself.

The line actually wasn't that bad. Ruby screamed hysterically a few times, but it wasn't too bad waiting. Katy was cute. She would walk up and down the center of the line and say hi to everyone. It got to a point where swinging on the ropes almost toppled the poles like dominoes, so Alicia decided to take care of Katy while Hannah and Ruby watched the deer, bears, moose, and other wildlife.

Our moment arrived, and the girls were fantastic! Hannah and Ruby sat on Santa's lap and Katy, like a model, plopped herself down at his feet and literally struck a pose for the camera. I love free pictures with Santa!

Anyway, Ruby proceeded to tell Santa about baby dolls and Handy Manny. Katy did not really speak, but gave Santa the biggest smile which made him blush and giggle. It was cute. While he was handing out candy canes to the girls, Hannah went up to Santa and asked him something that I didn't even realize how important this moment was for her.

"Santa, can I have a bell for Christmas?"

"A bell," he replied.

"Yes," said Hannah. "I want a bell from your sleigh."

I think Santa recognized the question and why she asked for such a bell. Santa then leaned over and reached into a different bag laying next to the candy cane bag and whispered to Hannah, "You have to keep this a secret. I actually have a bell from my sleigh right here, and it is just for you."

He pulled out of this red bag a bell almost the size of a golf ball, and handed it to her. The excitement in my little Hannah Bear's eyes were amazing! She got a bell from Santa's sleigh! How brave of her to ask!

I assume that most of you reading this may be familiar with Polar Express. The premise of the movie revolved around a young man who chooses to believe in Santa and in choosing the gift he would like for Christmas, the one thing he wanted more than anything was a bell from Santa's sleigh. You can see the ending here. I love Hannah's request today, and was grateful for a store Santa that took the time to recognize the faith of a little girl and giving her the opportunity to receive her first gift of Christmas this year.

The greatest news of all?

Alicia and I can still hear it ringing.

Merry Christmas!

8 years ago.....

Happy Anniversary Steven. It has been a wild ride from day 1 for us. Who can forget that it all started for us with a SNOW storm in Atlanta, an ER trip a few hours before we got married, and ice for our reception. All in all I can say that I have had an awesome ride so far with you, my best friend. Who else would be willing to move 12 times with you and 3 of those were across the country. We have picked up children in every area that we have been in. How fun was that?!?! Through all the great times and the sad ones that we have had too, I would never have done it with anyone else but you. Happy Anniversary my love! I can't wait to see what 2009 will bring us. I love you with all my heart!!

Our Wedding Day Dec. 19, 2000
Steve and Alicia Fall 2008

Ode to the Christmas Tree

My Dear Christmas Tree.
You have been with Steve and I since our First Christmas together.
You have seen all 12 moves with us.
Been there for new kittens and kids.
You have stood and fell when the cats decided that they needed to climb you.
Not to mention the kids who love to knock you down too.
Did you know you have been decorated with love in many different houses and states?
But the time is here to say good-bye.
You have fallen one too many times.
Your stand is now broke and there is a crook in your side.
You are just leaning on a wall since the last fall was one too many.
We tried in one last attempt to make it through this Christmas season,
But it was no good.
We love the joy you have brought us.
It is time to say good bye!

ps. there will be pictures soon. I have lost my camera!!!!

The worm in the garden......

Yes this is from a few weeks back too. Mandee this is just for you. Pictures and the movie, since you didn't believe me on the size of these worms!!! I am just getting around to unloading my pictures from my camera today. This was right after Thanksgiving when we were planting our bulbs for the spring. I am finally in my own house, so I want some flowers for the spring. We found 50 bulbs for $10 at Lowe's. We have two flower beds in front of our house that need something for spring.

While we were digging the holes for the flowers we found WORMS!! They were living in the turtle pool that we had by the side of the house. It was full of nasty water left from when we had the dogs. I guess that a family of worms had taken up residence in that little pool of ours. They were HUGE!! Now these are not those little inch worms but bigger than my hand worms!! We were good and put them in their new home! We love worms. They make for awesome gardens and even better flowers.

Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil.....

Here is my attempt at getting my girls in the cute monkey pose that so many know. We took these a few weeks back and no such luck to get this.......

I got this instead. Three little girls who would not sit still for anything!! It was fun to try and get them to listen. I got two covering their ears, eyes, or mouths. I guess we will try again later. It really was a fun night for us!!
Our first attempt.
Try number two.
Try number 3 for the silly monkeys.
All done and off to another activity!!!

Fall Pictures

Ginnie was so very nice to take our family pictures for us this year. We of course chose a really cold day to take them, so thank you so much Ginnie for freezing with us. The girls were okay and were not really interested in taking pictures so I was amazed with so many that turned out great!!

So here they are and Thank you so much Ginnie for our adventure!!

Our Family Pictures Fall 2008 <-------Click here

A long few weeks

Our family has been going through a crazy mess this last week since I have wrote. Yes we are all still alive and well, but Steve was laid off from his job last Thursday. It was right before I had to go to work so it really was not a fun night for me. Life for us has been in the "circle the wagons" mode. I have started working a whole lot more at work and am very glad that I can pick up more hours at the Olive Garden.

Sunday I was blessed with two angels as my last table. At work we are having a wine sample contest, where every week if we sell 10 samples or glasses of wine our name gets put into a drawing for a $50 visa gift card or $30 olive garden gift card. I only needed 3 more samples or glasses on Sunday with my last table. The ladies ordered soup and salad and wouldn't you know they wanted some wine!! So with their 2 glasses I was one sample away and I told them about the contest. One of ladies was so happy to buy a sample of wine from me to put me at the 10 that I needed for the week!! They sampled the soups we have too and tried all of our soups but Minestrone. Eventually my Angels wanted to know how much I would win with selling my glasses so I told them about the $50 if my name gets drawn out of the bin. I told them about Steve not having a job and how much I was working. The whole thing just kinda spilt out when I only had one table and I was checking on them every few minutes. I get them all checked out with their mints of course. One of the ladies tells me that her friend had a gift for me. I was a little shocked b/c you don't get gifts when you are a server. My angel lady handed me a $50 tip!! She told me that I had already won the contest and to use it for Christmas. The Lord really is looking out for us even when we are not expecting blessings. I am so thankful for these Angels of mine.

Steve has been looking for work most hours of the day that we are awake. It sure is strange for me to be going to work and him to be at home with the kids. I have a better understanding and appreciation for that song "Mr. Mom" and have a good laugh at it too since he has been home when I do doubles at work. Steve has had some offers here and there for commission work or way under what would let us live even comfortably. There doesn't seem like there is much with it being a few weeks before Christmas, but we are doing the best that we can right now.

A lot of things have been put on hold for our little family, but I am glad that we have Christmas taken care of. Yes it will be smaller this year for the girls, but in a way I am glad that the girls are small so they won't miss all the presents from Santa. Hannah has discovered the Dollar Store so that is the new cool store for her! Thank goodness for me since that is where their stocking suffers are coming from this year.

Sorry that this is a short update, but we will have more to follow soon. Just keep us all in your prayers this Christmas season. There are always blessings that come when a door is shut. We are just looking for that open window right now.

Oh Ruby...Dear, sweet Ruby

So here I am on a Saturday once again watching the girls!

Alicia is at work this morning and will probably be home soon. In an effort to keep the girls preoccupied we went to Lowe's to return a few items, look at the Christmas things (their favorite thing to do) and get a plug for the Christmas tree lights. Needless to say, they were actually pretty good in the store. I got one of those carts with the race car steering wheels so while they were steering us all over the place, I was going around the store looking for the plugs. Hannah is extremely intelligent and actually pointed out the sign for them before I even got a chance to see where they were located, so it was actually pretty quick.

We came home to get the tree done up and Hannah got some old ornaments out and started going to town. Ruby pitched in while Katy decided it was nap time. So after getting her down I let the girls decorate the entire tree. It was a lot of fun, and hopefully we will be all ready for the holiday this year. Our tree is a little lopsided, and I guess after having a tree since we were married it is going to be time to get a new one this year. Luckily we always buy right after the holiday so it is always way cheaper that way.

Hannah and Ruby got in a scuffle and I think Hannah was tired anyway, so I put her upstairs to "think" about it. While upstairs, Ruby became interested in the tree again, and was doing something. I got a call from work about someone who wanted to come in for an interview next week, so I was trying to be good on the phone as I watched the tree topple to the ground with Ruby screaming and ornaments everywhere. I am not 100% sure she saw me, because her screams subsided quickly.

Now, I know Ruby is quite the screamer, but she is probably the sweetest little person I know, and is always looking for ways to not get in trouble. She is one of those who "fears" punishment and as a result is very good when she needs to be. As I finished my conversation I watched Ruby frantically pick herself up and evaluate the situation. She proceeded to give the tree a kiss, telling it she was sorry and to get up. I was almost bursting in laughter! Then the moment came where she saw me! Oh no!

At this point Ruby came over to me and so I knelt down to see her at eye level wondering what she was going to say. Sure enough it made me laugh even more. She says, "Daddy, can you please not call Santa and tell him. Please?"

So now for the past 20 minutes, she has been walking around the house cleaning things up and speaking only in whispers because Katy is asleep. Oh how I love Ruby.

It's Almost Thanksgiving so you know what that means......

YES! The kids are sick again!! I swear this is the Thanksgiving curse that plagues my home every year. It all started 2 years ago right when we moved to Utah. I was preggers with Katy and Ruby got the whole I don't want to eat and I have stuff coming out of both ends non-stop. My welcoming party to Utah was a trip to Primary Children's where I spent the night. I did also have Hannah come in to with the same thing thanks to a ride there by Grandma! Happy Thanksgiving to me! Steve started in with the same thing and had quite the adventure getting back to our apartment, but I will let you ask him about that. Just say side of the road and he will know what you are talking about.

Last year the kids were sick too with the same thing. Not as bad, but same thing still. So it brings me to today.....2008. Ruby has had issues with the potty chair thanks to the lovely bug she got from somewhere. Let's just say I have picked up poop off the floor b/c she could not get there fast enough. She is on the mend and last night dear Katy could not keep it all down. You know that gagging coughing thing kids do in their room and you know what will be there so you try and ignore it like you didn't hear it?!?!?! but you know that you have to drag yourself out of bed to that welcoming nasty smell of vomit everywhere. At least the bear was spared last night. Katy really hasn't kept anything down today either, so we will be into the doctor's around lunch today. I am going in begging for the IV so that I don't have to make that traditional visit to Primary Children's tomorrow.

WISH ME LUCK THIS THANKSGIVING!!!

spinning chairs and falling leaves

So here is what we have been up to lately at our house. Getting the kids dizzy in the spinning rocking chair and raking leaves from our 6 HUGE chinese elm trees that are spread out over our 1/3 of an acre. Let me tell you there are lots of leaves and they keep falling. It is really fall here in our little neck of the woods. The video for the leaves only have Hannah and Ruby in them b/c Katy was sleeping away. How she was sleeping with them doing road construction right outside her window I will never know but she was asleep the whole time. We decided to rake before the game on Saturday so the kids would be somewhat calm. After the blow out of the first half, Steve and I resorted to knowing the Cougars were going to lose so we watched more of Dawson's Creek. Our show we decided to watch now that Dexter is over until the next season comes out on DVD. Steve totally missed Dawson's Creek b/c it started when he was on his mission!! How much am I aging us now?? So we are starting in season 1 and having some great laughs with the whole teenage love stuff!! This is what you do when you don't have many channels to watch on TV and Netflix is always willing to send more DVDs!!!

I can't believe that it will be Thanksgiving this week! Holy Cow where did the year go?? Sorry for the early Christmas music, but it is all over the radio right now out here in Utah and for some reason we are all super excited about Christmas this year. The tree is going up on Friday along with the lights. I guess it is because this is the first year we have ever been in our own house for the holidays. At least that is what my husband tells me. So sorry for the early Christmas music, but it is all in fun for the season!! Can you guess which song is just for Ruby this year??

Over a week without an entry........

WOW!! This must be a record for me with no blog entry!! Must be the long nights at work, running kids here and there, and getting ready for the holidays. It really has been a typical regular week for all of us. Work, school and playtime!! I have had a ton of fun reading all of the blogs that have been updated this week too.

Oh yeah....I do have one story to share. About Ruby of course. She did potty train in ONE day for me when she was good and ready to and we went to the store I hate, lothe, curse, and all those fun words you can think of.....Wal-Mart this week. I had to get some pictures printed out and they are the only ones who can do it quick, so off I go to my most favorite store with all three kids. That was mistake number one! Mistake number 2 was having Ruby my potty training kid with me. The kids really were great getting the pictures and the hair things we needed, so I told them I would buy them lunch at McD's. That was mistake number 3!! They are so shopping cart unfriendly there!! Why they did not make it bigger I will never know. So we finally get someplace to sit amongst all the carts and few tables that they have. This is Utah and you would think that they would have more tables with wider isles, but oh well we work with what we have right?? So I get all the kids sat down with their lunches and am getting us through lunch with tired kids. Then this is where mistake #2 comes into play...Ruby has to go pee right now!! I just can't leave Katy and Hannah at the table in the massive store I hate, so I throw the tray with all the food in the cart. Put Katy and Hannah in the cart, carry Ruby and almost run to the bathroom with pushing the cart too. So we get to the bathroom and low and behold there is a line!!! There are 4 grown women in front of me and all just glance over their shoulder when Ruby starts screaming "I gotta go potty Mom!" I tell her that it will be our turn soon. Do you think any of those grown women will let the two year old go pee first!??! NO!!! I swear I hate wal-mart and the mix of lunch. Needless to say Ruby peed her pants well before we could get into an open stall and the burgers were on the floor before I could get back to the other two kids. So lunch was in the trash and I needed new panties and pants for my Ru. Such was my day at Wal-Mart. I knew I should have gotten lunch to go, but I didn't and see what it turned into. So once again I will swear off Wal-Mart, kids, and lunch.

What an afternoon.........Glad it was over!!

BYU Game on Saturday

Steve and I had a great day on Saturday! It was just a day for us and it was so much fun. Kelsey was able to come up from Provo and watch the girls. It is so much easier to have someone you trust to watch you kids and have a good time. We started our day at the University Mall for an early lunch. It was just easier to eat there and take the bus down to Provo then to drive down there in all the madness to find a parking spot. Lunch was great. No kids! WOW!!

The trip down to the stadium was fun too. Not a big deal. Just on the bus and we were on our way. Our seats were great too and in the sun so we were not as cold as other folks in the stadium. As everyone knows I am never satisfied with the seats that I get unless they are super close, so from the start of the game I was on the hunt for better seats. I found some so after half time we got to move to the 2nd row!! Yippie! The pictures can tell the difference. The first two were from our original seats. The last two are from our even better seats!!! Those pictures are not even zoomed in either. That was the best part of being on the 2nd row :-) We even got to see them score too and it was right on our side too. It was awesome and so much fun even if we were sitting in the SDSU section.
The best part of the whole afternoon was half time. The band did a tribute to video games that we have all played and the last song they did was for Guitar Hero. Major addicting game. Well watch what the flag girls did for that!!


All in all it was a fun afternoon with some great pictures and short videos!! I love my football games and am already talking to Steve about getting season tix for next year. I am keeping the fingers crossed already!!

Another week is almost in the books

WOW!! What a week. It has been really interesting this week with voting for a new president and just life in general. It has almost been routine with not much other than the normal things. I can say that Steve and I are not really happy about who is our new president-elect or are a lot of people that I work with. The people have voted and just not for our guy. All I can say is that it will be a very interesting next 4 years. I am not looking forward to paying more in taxes because we work hard for all we have!! It is sad that the new homeowner tax credit that the country has for all first time home buyers in 2008 which we are some how we don't qualify since we bought and closed on our house before April 8th of 2008!! HELLO!! Crazy I know and I am sure that it was some crazy person in Washington who just picked a date out of a hat.

Anyway.....on to more exciting things. This weekend should be fun! It's Thursday....so of course that means I am working, but I can't wait for my weekly splurge!! I always buy myself dinner on Thursday night so I can come home and enjoy the episode of Grey's Anatomy that I missed. Thank goodness for my DVR!! Who doesn't like watching 44 minutes of some great eye candy?!?!? Yummy......
Friday means no work day for me! We are getting together with our friends for years, Ammon and Jenn and their 3 kids. We have known them since we moved to Utah the first time. Crazy that we all have 3 kids now and half of them are in school. It will be a fun dinner night and just hanging out like we used to do.

Saturday means that it is finally here. My one and only BYU football game for the year. I was in orinetation for Olive Garden during the first game, so I was not able to go. Hannah went in my place, so finally it is my turn!!! I am so excited even though I do have to go to a work meeting at 9 am on Saturday. I will let Steve get the girls ready for their wonderful babysitter to come over at 10 and then we are off to the game!! Go Cougars!!

Then we will be back to Sunday again and I have to go to work again on a Sunday. Oh well. Tips are actually better on Sundays I have found. Steve likes that since it is for the bills we need to pay.

That is what is on the schedule for the rest of the week! It should be fun and a great opportunity to take lots of pictures to post on the blog of course!

Weekend with the girls!

So this weekend has been fun with the girls! I love being able to spend some of the time I do with them now that Alicia is working on some evenings.

This week has mostly been about Katy. The first thing has to do with peanut butter. For some reason I am getting mental images from when I was a kid and my mom giving me a spoon full of peanut butter that I loved to eat. I may have to verify that with her, but to say the least, Katy has lately discovered the creamy goodness of crushed peanuts. It started the other day when she found a can of peanut butter. Now don't ask me how she did this, but she figured out that when you twist the lid, it pops off and you can access lots of gooey fun! Now almost every day she drags us to the kitchen to ask for the spoon covered in her favorite treat. This has now been going on for almost a week and she has gone through almost an entire jar! WHOA!

Next came all Hallows Eve. Alicia had to work, and since Hannah had a Halloween party on Friday, I took the time to carve our pumpkins and save the seeds to cook for later (and yes dad, I have some fond memories of cooking the seeds when I was a kid, so I was determined to spread the tradition!)

Anyway, I went a little overboard and spent about two hours on the pumpkins. For one I had to separate all the seeds from the gunk, and then I had to search online for some patterns that I could draw onto the pumpkin (since I am too cheap to buy the stencils) and proceeded to carve the pumpkins. I could have done this all night, since I was so proud of what I had carved! You can see for yourself! I really wanted to have these lit up on the porch, but we ended up going up to South Jordan to trunk or treat and I did not want to leave them lit on the porch while we were gone! I really liked the witch on the broom with a little pumpkin there and the moon in the background. Next year I am going to be so ready to have some awesome pumpkins!

The next day, we got to watch Hannah at her Halloween musical. She loves to sing! I have it all on video right here:


I got to stay since Ruby was acting out, so Alicia left and Hannah and I played games and had some fun. She got her face painted, made a pumpkin magnet for the fridge, played pumpkin toss and pin the nose on the pumpkin. She even got me to try it out! Trunk or treating was fun, but I think Katy got more than anyone! She would go up to the car and I guess being so cute as a penguin, the folks would put there bowl of treats down and pretty much let Katy take what she could fit in her hands. She has double that of the other girls for sure!

Katy was crazy yet again. While Alicia is at work, sometimes she has a tendency to wander off and do whatever. Well she was especially quiet in the back room. I had to check for sure because lately she has been getting in the kitty litter and treating it like her own personal sandbox. Needless to say that is all cleaned up and no more of those incidents will be occurring. But this time when I finally found her in my panic state I had to laugh and grab the camera. Lo and behold, two little feet were stuck on the window inside the dryer! There Katy had climbed in and was playing with the clean clothes. Lately she has been helping with laundry. Her duty is usually to take the lint filter and throw the excess lint into the garbage. She does really well and now knows how to remove it by herself. I guess the temptation was too strong because she decided this time to stick around and spend some time in there!
Ruby was cute tonight as well. When we were saying prayers she asked Heavenly Father to bless the birds, the trees, and the stars. She said thank you for the clouds and candy too. She is so serious sometimes too because her little face will get really serious and she will give you this look! She also loves butterfly kisses. I am sure Alicia taught her this! She makes me lean over and put my eye on her cheek and flutter my eyelashes on her cheek. She loves to do the same thing, and together with the hug and kiss, if I don' give her the butterfly treatment, she gets hysterical.

We also ready "Danny and the Dinosaur". Hannah and Ruby love it when daddy reads, and I remember how jealous this book made me as a kid because my brother's name was Daniel. I always thought the book had been written on his behalf. The funny thing as I think about it though, was he never liked being called Danny as a nickname anyway, so he probably hated that book! :)

Anyway, it was a fun week for sure!

Happy Halloween......Pictures

Here they are in their costumes!! We had another adventure at Kiddie Kandids again today! Not the best experience again, but at least we got 2 sheets free!! I can pull pics from the web and everyone can see and here we are!! I LOVE their picture together!! Ruby was showing some love for Katy who was not really into taking pictures, but we got what we needed!! Hope that you enjoy!

Here is my little Katy! Isn't she so cute?!?!

Here is Ruby being a Horse this year!! I loved the whole apple thing!!

And my Hannah! Looking all grown up already! I can't believe that she is already almost 5 1/2!!
Here is the first one we took!! See Katy was not happy to get pictures taken! Oh well it all turned out great after that. I thought it was totally priceless.

Isn't She Lovely??

So here we go again! I swear my girls were not given the memo that they are supposed to be very prissy, wear matching clothes, be calm and quiet, and when on walks not supposed to bail out from the stroller!!! So here we are with another example of how wild and crazy my girls really are! Don't we love the new look?!?!? I sure hope it looks better for Family Pictures next week. If not I am glad that Allison is great with photoshop and will make her look great no matter what! Wonder if she will charge extra for her boo-boo fix, since that is a little bit bigger than your normal boo-boo!!!

Hannah all ready for school

Hannah has had an awesome week at school! I think things are finally clicking and we are making progress. We still have to work really hard to catch up on reading and math, but progress is progress! This week on Tuesday Hannah got in the car and told me she was Student of the Day!! How awesome is that?!?! Then yesterday she had gotten a special award for Keeping up with the class and having a positive attitude. She really is getting back into the groove of things.



I think what has really helped is that her dad has promised that if she does great in school this week he will take her to see Wall-E. It's at the Dollar Theater right now, so I guess it has been a great incentive to do well in school and it has paid off so far!!

The little movie is Hannah doing addition with zeros. That is what they are working on right now and she really has caught on to that fast!! Much better than doubles.

Saturday night fun!

We had some fun on Saturday night went Kent, Mandee, and Kenton all ended up at the house for a little while! Here are a few of the crazy shots that we got that night!

Last Saturday's Project......

We had a fun day on Saturday with another Saturday Project. Now we haven't had a big one like this since we cut down the trees (well half of them anyway). I get the daily newsletter from freecycle and all of you that know about freecycle everything is FREE that is offered. Well.....a lady said that she had a chain link fence for free. All that we had to do was take it apart and get it to our house. I was so glad that I wrote in first so it was ours!! All 210 feet of it!! Easy to do right??

So Steve went really early to start taking it apart. We could not find any help in our ward for the morning to help us take it down, so after being there for a little while I called Cody and he agreed to come down and help us out! So with 3 adults and all 3 kids out there we got the fence down! Steve was there at sun up and we were all home right after noon. Not too bad for a free fence!

Jim was able to come and help us get the rolled up fence back to the house along with all the top rail poles too. Thank goodness one of our friends has a HUGE truck!! It was worth it! Now all we have to do is buy new poles, dig holes, and put back up the fence and we will have one!! Not bad for my newest deal off of Freecycle!!

The back part of the fence!

Not really sure what Steve is doing.......

The Front Row of the fence

Taking it apart one small piece at a time!

my 8 things......

My friend Nina tagged me, so here it goes!!
8 Favorite TV shows
1. LOST
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. 24
4. Fringe
5. Private Practice
6. The Unit
7. ER
8. Dexter

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Olive Garden
2. Sonic
3. Applebee's
4. my own cooking (does that count)
5. Mom's house (hehehe)
6. Pizza Hut
7.
8.

8 Things that Happened Today
1. I woke up
2. Took Hannah to school
3. Paid more money on Hannah's school bill
4. Went on a walk with Ruby and Katy
5. Took Ruby to the potty a lot
6. Cooked Dinner
7. went over health insurance with steve
8. Checked my blog of course!

8 things to look forward to
1. catching Hannah up in school
2. Ruby to stop screaming all day long
3. Ruby to be potty trained at night
4. Katy to be potty trained
5. No more diapers!!!
6. Another fun night at work!
7. Planning a vacation
8. Spending my 8th Anniversary away from the kids for a weekend!!!

8 things I love about Fall
1. Football!!
2. Thanksgiving
3. Halloween
4. Crisp cool mornings
5. Walks with the kids
6. School starting
7. getting ready for the holidays
8. Trick or Treating!!

8 things on my wish list
1. To have my kids out of diapers!!!
2. Hawaii
3. be out of debt!
4. to live near Emily
5. to make it to the motherland, Texas
6. to see my last 5 states!! (maine, alaska, Hawaii, washington, oregon)
7. to take a long vacation with just steve!
8. to see my girls all married in the temple with a bank account back at $0!! I know it will be expensive with all 3 of them!!!

8 people I tag
1. Emily
2. Mary
3. Laila
4. Angela
5. Ginni
6. Melissa
7. Mikelle
8. Jennie

The Throne

So since Hannah has started school at Challenger it has become the motivation that I have been searching for getting Ruby potty trained. Every day when we go get Hannah from school Ruby is so sad that she can not go to school also. We have the same conversation every day and it goes like this....

Ruby: I wanna go to Challenger!
Mom: Ruby...what do you need to do first?
Ruby: Go Potty!!!
Mom: Where at Ruby? Where do you go potty?
Ruby: On the potty chair!!
Mom: That is right Ruby so don't potty in your panties.

So yesterday we started off with panties and did not have an accident! She told me when she needed to go and that she did! It has been like this for 2 days now and we are on day number 3!! I still can't believe it but if that is what it took why did we not know it before!


I did buy some pull-ups yesterday but I think I am going to take them back since she is doing so well! It is just not with me either. Ruby is home with her Dad at night while I work and she has done great for the last 2 nights! Telling him when she needs to go to the bathroom and all! I am really excited and proud of her!

There has been some great effects of this too! Little Katy wants to sit on the potty too! So instead of just one I am taking two kids to the potty all the time now. Katy is sporting some panties today too, but over her diaper. I hope that this is encouraging early potty training techniques for Katy. When they are both done, Katy even knows to ask for her Dum-Dum!! How crazy is that?!?!? The sooner we are out of diapers the better! Katy loves to flush the toilet too! She loves to do it for anyone who uses since that is her way of helping out. Let's just hope that things that don't need to be flushed don't get flushed!!


So I have been doing the happy dance for Ruby and the early happy dance for Katy! My girls want to be potty trained and we are hitting it full force! I just have to keep telling Ruby that she can start at Challenger right after Santa comes (which is true! She can't start until Jan 16th when she is 2 years 9 months. Those are the rules!).

So here is a little video of us three girls at home this morning. Girls sporting panties and singing! Too cute and we are having fun in the morning together.

What a week......

I feel like I really haven't updated much of anything since I took this job with the Olive Garden. Now don't get me wrong b/c I totally love my job! I just work a lot for really cheap tips and my base pay of $2.13 an hour. Some nights are better than others, but I guess it all works out in the end right?? I am very grateful that I do have this job, since that really came into play with everything that has happened in the last week for our family.

Last Monday Hannah came home from school just not herself. I asked what happened at school and it was the same, but then I heard something from my daughers' mouth that I never thought would come out of it. "Mom, my teacher slapped me today. Right here on this cheek." She promptly showed me which one it was. I literally stopped in the road and asked her to say it again. Yes, she said the same thing and was acting very cowardly and just not herself for the rest of the night and the next day even. Hannah even asked not to go back to school until her teacher Mrs. Bird came back. ** She has had a sub since the first day of school since her teacher was in the hospital and now at a care center, so we never even met her teacher**

YES I did call the Principal of the school and wanted to know what was going on. His version was that Hannah was talking and the teacher "tapped her on the cheek" and asked her to sit in the front of the room. There was no action taken or a suggestion that she could be put in another class. I was still really mad!!

I let things go until the next day. I got done with my shift at work and talked to Steve again about the whole thing. We did send Hannah back for one more day of school and things still had not gotten better for her. She was very quiet and didn't want to see the "Mean teacher". I had a great night at work and the light went off! I can pay for school for Hannah. I had called in the afternoon to Challenger School to see if there were spots left in half-day kinder and there were! So Steve and I made the choice to pull our child out of the public school system and put her back into private school. It sure felt like the right choice. We have had to ask our parents out for a little bit of money to get her started with books and uniforms along with our tuition that we owe, but it has all been coming together great!

I got up early and took Hannah to school at Challenger on Wednesday morning last week! We got her tested and she was a little behind, but things were good! We do have a lot of catching up to do, but it will be worth it in the end. I could see just how much 5 weeks of public school did to my kid! She is very lazy and was not used to doing the work that is expected now. It has literally rocked Hannah's world this last week. There are now spelling tests every week, books to be read, homework every night of english and math, and don't forget those sight words and math flashcards too. We are all very busy and have divided up the homework. I stick to the math and Steve sticks to the english!! We do realize that it will take until around Christmas to have her fully caught up with her class, but she has learned more in the few days that she has attended then she has all of the time she was in her old public school class.

After getting her signed up on Wednesday, I marched myself down to the Public School HR office to put in a complaint. I was very upset about the whole thing by this time and was quickly ushered in to the head of the HR dept and the manager of the subs for the district. I left my report with them telling me that they would get back to me as an investigation would take place. So later in the day, the HR lady called me back with a totally different story of what the principal told me on Monday afternoon. Now the story was.....Hannah was sitting by a boy in class. This boy was playing with a toy when he was not suppsed to. The teacher came and took the toy from the boy and put it away. Hannah got up and got the toy and gave it back to the boy. The teacher then brushed Hannah's cheek with her hand and asked her to go to the front of the class and sit at a desk there. Supposedly the teacher didn't even really remember this at all. The school district has taken action, but would not tell me what. I don't think that anything has happened. The HR lady did wish me well and "hopes that we will try the Alpine School district next year." My children will never step foot into an Alpine School District school ever again!! I don't think so. Not when nothing was done or even an offer of let us see what can be done to make it right.

Then to top my week off Katy was on the trampoline with the girls and she got hurt!! It was her left ankle and it was another trip to the doctor and to get more x-rays!! The x-rays showed that nothing was broke, but she could still not put weight on it on Thursday, so I had to get my Mom to take Katy to the doctor (since I was working!). All the kids were taken care of thanks to Mandee!! She looks out for me and all the kids! I don't know where I would be without her! My whole house is well on its way to being organized b/c of her time and willingness to watch my kids for a few hours while Steve finished work.

Katy is all better now, but it was a few frustrating days for Katy with a splint on her leg from her thigh down to her toes! She walked really funny and even would sit down and just scoot with her leg! Crawling was a little bit of a pain, but she did that to for awhile.

I just need life to calm down a little bit! Between work, school drama, and hurt kids....life needs to calm down. Hopefully the last half of the month will be a little slower for me! I want to get back to fun updates and those silly stories from the kids!!!

Steve's weekend!

The moment you have been waiting for! Steve's long, boring weekend.

Brought to you by:

The letter "C" and the number "13"

Wait a minute...that's how Sesame Street ends...sorry I was getting confused!

This weekend was a blast (well, among other things too). It started Friday. I had to get off work early because I had a mission reunion to get too, but at the same time, Katy had double ear infections, so we had to stop by the doctor's office first for a not so fun shot. That went well, and luckily Katy was only angry at us for a moment. Then off to Bountiful to go to the mission reunion. Since it was early and we wanted to beat traffic, we headed to McDonald's in the rain to let the girls play and play to get worn out a little bit prior to going to the reunion so they could be a little calmer. I had no idea the McDonald's had video games! So while the girls were playing, I was playing Play Station :) (see a picture below for details and note how well I propped up my water glass so as not to spill it).

That was cool and then we headed to the reunion. We were there a tad early and I now know how old I am getting based on the fact that most of us are married with kids now, so there was a huge room downstairs dedicated to the children and their play time. That was nice while we could mingle and chat, but none of my companions were even there. There were some of the missionaries I was in zones or districts with, but it is just no the same, so after about 2 hours we left as the girls were getting tired and it was a long drive back to AF. Well, Hannah forgot her shoes, so luckily before we left I ran back in and got them. Crisis averted. But as we were about to get on the freeway Hannah burst out in tears again because she left "Lucky" (her 4-leaf clover build-a-bear she got a few years back). So, turn around I did and tracked back to get the bear who was supposed to be lucky, or so I thought. So we really ended up leaving close to 9pm instead of 8pm. Nevertheless, we made it home and thus ended the first day.

Saturday morning was great. I was up an dearly and to the gym by 5am as always and worked my shoulders and calves. There is never anyone there on Sat morning so it is a good time to reflect and just have a good morning. I was thinking since conference was coming up, that somehow my lifting weights was linked to spiritual things. Sometimes I am strange like this, but I thought you know, I just recently changed my workout routine about 3 weeks ago because I had done something many do when they lift: plateaued. See, when this happens, you are basically no longer moving up or down, you are somewhat stagnant. So in lifting, you have to change things up a bit. Our bodies have the amazing ability to adapt. So while I throw certain routines at it, within months, it has adjusted and it is no longer difficult. As a result, you plateau. So, in order to overcome such a scenario, you have to change. And not just any change, but you have to re-challenge your muscles in different ways so as to break them down so that when they repair themselves, they are much stronger. It is called muscle confusion because now they have to readjust over and over again, The great part about doing this is that it keeps you motivated, it keeps you from becoming stagnant and perhaps lose interest or give up on goals because no progression is being made, and best of all, you get stronger. So I was thinking, sometimes i become spiritually stagnant. Not that I don't do things right or that I am not "exercising" like I should, but I think I plateau spiritually at times. The only way to overcome, is to change it up. Sometimes the Lord has a funny way to force the change, but oh how much better it is to learn of ways you can change it up yourself and keep the motivation there and reach some important goals. So in my prayerful reflection of approaching conference, I was excited about what was in store, knowing that this plateau was not going to last as long as I had anything to do with it. One of the counselors in the Bishopric came in to lift as he was headed to SLC that morning to go to conference, so I shared with him briefly my spiritual moment and was headed home!

So things did not go as planned as you may have guessed, but it was a great day nevertheless. I got home by 7am as always and the girls were awake, and Alicia was starting her long day of training at the Olive Garden (her new job that she loves). so she was gone by 7:30am and I was excited about the new day. Sesame Street, Pink Panther, Handy Manny, and Signing Time were among the choice shows of the day. As conference got started, I was anticipating something great, but the girls decided that this was not a good idea. Since it was raining like crazy I let the beagles in the house, so they were going crazy too. So I took the girls upstairs and for several hours, we read books and played My Little Pony. Hannah's horse was the teacher and me and Ruby were students. Katy started to fall asleep during this time, so she went down for a nap which was nice, but Ruby and Hannah decided that nap time was not for them. The next session was starting which got skipped too for the Little Mermaid and otter pops. They were actually really and good. I was thinking about something my wife said to me earlier in the week. An incident occurred in the week where gossiping mouths leaked out the fact that no one likes to come to the Smith's house because it is so messy and how can the spirit every reside there, etc. It is unfortunate that sometimes the very religion that is supposed to bring us closer to the Savior is used by some to make an excuse not to be neighborly or use spiritual things in a fanatical way and as an excuse to alienate someone. My wife in response to this said something very profound that had a tremendous influence on what I did this weekend. She said that since our son passed away, she has realized that spending time with the girls is much more important than a clean house every moment of every day. So while the house is messy at times, you can be assured that the day was spent in play with the girls, getting to know them, answering questions, and giving them the mommy time they deserve. It reminded me of the time when the Savior came to visit Mary and Martha, and while Martha was so busy trying to get things cleaned up and in it's perfect state, the Savior himself said:

"Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her." Please see: http://scriptures.lds.org/en/luke/10/38-42#38

My wife has chosen the good part and it shall not be taken from her. So with dishes piled high, the house a wreck with muddy dogs all over, I took my wife's counsel and chose the good part this weekend which allowed for a wonderful experience, even if I did miss some of conference which was being recorded anyway. While by some it could be seen as not choosing the better part, I felt the better was chosen and I am grateful for those moments with my girls that will never be taken from me. Ever.

Alicia came home late in the afternoon and I had to shower and head off to priesthood quickly. I was really looking forward to it because of what I missed for the day, but I know Alicia couldn't wait to be with the girls after a long day of training and I didn't even care about the house chores being done or not. Priesthood was great, and while I took notes and received some much needed impressions about my duties and my calling right now, I will not put those here. Suffice it to say, I received the answers I was looking for and am in haste to get them done and in place. Very exciting.

Sunday was a fun day as well. Again, Conference was put off as Alicia left early again to finish her last day of training and I was to be with the girls again. It was a shorter day, but again, playing Candyland, our own easy version of Pony-Opoly and other games and such made the morning worth it. My daughters are amazing at what they know and what they can do and say. You can definitely tell that my wife like Mary has chosen the better part with them. While they are the noisiest in the chapel at church and we are in the halls most of the time (which I am sure gives great ammunition for some at church) they are some of the most spiritual girls I know. Hannah of her own accord has asked for 5 blessings this year and specifically tells me that she wants to feel comfort. Deep down I get the impression that she knows that the blessing makes a difference because of the feelings that she gets. We ended the evening by going over to one of my Home Teaching families home with the girls. We visited while Alicia gave away our Beagles. This was really hard on Hannah, but it is much better that they be somewhere they can run around and play instead of being tied up all day because we can't afford to get a fence right now. With our busy street too, heaven forbid we let them loose only to get hit by a car. That would be much worse. Luckily we picked up to kittens yesterday since they don't need a fence, and Hannah picked the names: Riley and Shadow. Don't ask where she got the names, but those are the two names she wanted.

So needless to say, it was a very eventful weekend for me!

Smith Family Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin Seeds: $1.50
Corn Seeds: $1.25
Hours in the Garden Watering and Pulling out Morning Glories: Too many to count

Not having to go buy pumpkins, corn stalks, or getting all the kids loaded in the car to visit a pumpkin patch you have to pay to get into: PRICELESS

Last night we took a trip to the Smith Family Pumpkin Patch. It was so great to not have to take the kids to a pumpkin patch or farm this year. The very long hours of pulling weeds that never seemed to go away and watering all the time really did pay off. Our little throw together garden really did produce a lot of fruits and veggies for us.

I loved to be able to decorate for FREE!! That is what it is all about right?!?! I am going to get a few more things for the outside of the house, but in all I think the stuff that we have right now is awesome!! It was a great feeling to know that our hard work payed off and our house looks great. I think so anyway!!

**Side note about this picture of Katy: We told Ruby to open her eyes. I have about 15 pics of Ruby with her eyes closed last night and this is what Katy thought I said! So they all started doing this when we told them to open their eyes! It was really funny!!**