Back to reality

I have been home from my WONDERFUL trip for quite some time but I was greeted with an instant dose of reality as soon as I got back and so it has taken me some time to make a post. The night I got home Charlie got the stomach flu and it has since been passing through our entire family including me. But enough about the realities of life and on to my exciting trip!

I got to spend the first half of my trip with family. I had a great breakfast with my dad and spent a ton of time with my mom and sister. I also got to see my wonderful grandparents and that was a real treat since I don't see them very often.


I was able to spend a few days at my parents beautiful cabin. It may not look like much here...they are under some major renovations and it will be amazing once it is all finished. I love being up in the mountains that close to the stars. It is truly a spiritual and peaceful experience.

I spent some time with my niece's and nephew. They are so cute and so much fun. I wish we were closer as they are the same age as my children and have so much fun together. Looking at this picture makes me miss them already!


We got to spend the day at my most favorite place in the world...Sego Lily day spa. My mother treated all of us for a day of beauty and it was pure HEAVEN. We had a great day of bonding and relaxation and it is not a day I will soon forget. Thanks mom!!!!


I went to the temple twice in one week, what a treat! It was great to go to the Jordan River temple since that is where we were married and we are coming up on our 10 year anniversary. It was fun to think back to me walking around in my wedding dress there. It seems like forever ago.

The second part of my trip was spent with my BFF. We giggled and had so much fun together. We spent part of our time together in Las Vegas and we ran into so many celebrities!

I decided to try out for American Idol while I was there. Here were my reviews:

Simon said, "That was absolutely dreadful!"
Paula, just clapped like a seal and then put her head on the table next to her Coke cup.
Randy said, "Yo dog, you've got mad skilz!"



We will just have to wait and see if my audition shows up on the next season. Ryan Seacrest is really short just in case you were wondering.

We stayed at the "lovely" Flamingo hotel, Donny and Marie's second home. We never saw them but we thought it was funny.

And as you all know I am such a hot babe that I got invited to the Playboy mansion. We got to hop in bed with Hef. The whole experience actually made my skin crawl a bit, but how many women can say they have actually been in bed with the Hefster....ok so quite a few but still aren't you jealous?

And for my final most glorious moment. I GOT TO KISS BONO! Ahhhhh, I can die happy now.

The trip was quite a treat. I was able to relax and enjoy just being me for a few days. I was able to giggle in my head as I saw all the other mothers dragging strollers and children everywhere I went. I loved seeing family. I cherish each moment I spend with them as I know they are few and far between.

A HUGE thank you to my amazing husband that allowed me to go and took great care of the children while I was away, and yes the house was even clean when I got home. I think it was hysterical that he hijacked my blog while I was away...he really is quite creative.

I am glad to be home with my sweet family and so appreciated my wonderful experience!

BLOGJACKED - Handy Decorating Tips

With Brook away I've had lots of time to make some executive decorating decisions. I've never been quite happy with some of our color schemes and always felt that the "aura" of our rooms was a bit to - aqua, if you know what I mean. Don't even get me started on the fung shui problems we've had from day one.

After struggling for days on how to address this, I called my best friends Rick, Justin, Kevin, and Rich and they came over to give me some moral support. They could clearly see my frustration and even helped dab away my tears when I couldn't hold back the tormoil this was putting me in.

After some good bonding time, we watched Ellen and then they gave me some great ideas that I just had to share for the blogging world.

I know what you're thinking, where did you come up with that fantastic design scheme? I wish I could say that it was all from me, but I have to give a little credit to Oprah of course, then years of watching trading spaces (love that Hildi), my great guy pals I already mentioned and lastly of course, Martha Stewart, without whom I'd be helpless.

Let me point out my 5 FAVORITES with the new room design.

1) Notice the sleek stainless steel desklamp I added to the room. I feel like it adds just a touch of Nate Burkus to the room (Thanks again Oprah).

2) Notice the open floor plan. This was a purposefully stylistic decision not to clutter the room with too much large furniture. I have to admit, I'm much more of a minimalist then most people I know.

3) Notice the use of abundant light to give the room more warmth. The classic polymer blinds relaly let the light in too. I bet you're wondering, where's the valence? I know, it may seem crazy, but I purposefully am evoking a bit of a NYC loft feel.

4) Notice the bookshelf in the corner. This helps invite in people to make themselves at home and really makes this room a safe place for "learning" for the kids.

5) Lastly, I through tons of crap everywhere do give it that kitchy, country home charm.

*********************************************************************************

For the new blogjack fans, tomorrow we will be exploring some other ideas from my unnamed friends. Here are the winning suggestions.

Comment #1

This is great! Nice paintball photo! You could make it into a Bears Fan site. Change the background and add editorials about the Bears.

Just an idea. I will keep thinking of other ideas.

Comment #2

Dude...you're digging your own grave! If you want some ideas, go
opposite all the perfect family photo crap and post photos of you
watching TV in your underwear, your kids crying & a totally trashed
kitchen. That would be funny.

If only she hadn't taken the camera with her - CAC

Comment #3

Did Brook sign off on the paintball girl photo?

She hasn't even seen the blogjacking yet - CAC

Comment #4

Another idea … can you add music as a background to the blog site? If so, you could put the “Super Bowl Shuffle” as background music. I am sure you already have it downloaded.

Comment #5

A few ideas (mostly from {cencored to protect the innocent})…
- share a recipe
- share a deep meaningful thought that only you truly get
- complain about how hectic your day was, point by point, minute by minute
- declare your children's' cuteness as if none could ever compare
- talk about shoes, purses, and girls' nights
- tell about a really great sale/deal you found
The above should get you started...

Bonus points for throughness and comedic Parody foresight. - CAC

Comment #6

One idea is the doing one of those tag blogs where they tag you with a list of personal questions and you answer them. I would also consider changing the background to a bears one if you can find it. If I think of anything else I will let you know.

A second vote for the Bears concept, I may have to expand on that concept. - CAC

See you all tomorrow!!!!

The Blog is Now Mine!!!

Top 5 reasons why Saturday Paintball had to be cancelled.

5) "Honey, it's up to you if you go, but you know we have a lot to get done on Saturday."

4) Some wives can't understand that after basketball, we need another physical activity to "wind down" with.

3) Some wives have been compaining about so called contractions, as if that's a real excuse. . . . pretty convenient timing if you ask me.

2) The Leonhardt's refused to move their move-in date to accomodate Paintball.

1) Kevin won't stop faking this whole "ligament" thing so he can keep his recliner at work.

Seriously, I googled images under "paintball" and this is the first one that came up. Don't blame me, blame Google. I figured it would be perfect for Brook's new blog.

For those who haven't figured it out, I have hi-jacked Brook's blog and changed the password so she can't do anything while she's out of town to fix it. I have 9 nights alone with no wife - what do you expect me to do?

What should I do next?

HIJACKING THE BLOG

IN case you haven't figured it out, Brook is gone and I've taken over the blog!

As many of you know, my beautiful wife is on a luxurious, all expenses paid, whirlwind mama-getaway vacation in Detroit (ok, only the airport), Salt Lake City, and Las Vegas. She will be hanging out at expensive spas, staying at a cabin retreat in the peaks of the Rocky Mountains, meditating through spiritual rituals (aka going to the temple), Hanging out with Ellen Degenerous (or at least maybe watching a taping if they get tickets), tearing up Las Vegas, and enjoying front row seats at Cirque del Soliel.

Little does she know that I am having more fun then she is. I am watching the kids and we have been having sleepovers every night, going bowling with friends, taking all four kids to see Madagascar (Samuel watched the movie without blinking for 45 minutes straight), dining at the Burger King Playland, baking pumpkin bread, enjoying potato soup and brownies with old friends, inviting over new friends, and having hot chocolate with colored marshmallows after playing in the first snow of the year.

TO BE HONEST - It's not really a fair test of what Brook does. She pretty much did everything for me before she left. The house was clean, all the laundry was done folded and put away, she got all the needed groceries the day she left, and she even laid out a complete matching outfit for each of the four kids for all 9 days she would be gone.

If you don't believe me, just consult MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17th, in the Manual she left for me. Be careful on your comments - she is not crazy, just highly organized.

How soon is too soon?

Well, I knew it was coming and today it finally happened. While driving my kids home from preschool I flipped on the radio and guess what I heard....CHRISTMAS MUSIC! Glorious Christmas music.

I used to have a strict rule of no "songs of the season" until at least the day after Thanksgiving. Then I moved here and found several stations started to play music before Thanksgiving. At first I found the idea somewhat ridiculous but now I love it. Am I crazy?

I must admit it was a little difficult listening to "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas", when it is 60 degrees outside and I was wearing flip flops yesterday but the song brought a smile to my face.

Am I ready to dig through my Christmas boxes and bring out all of my music...probably not but when I am driving around in my car you can bet that is what I will most likely have my station tuned to.

There is something about this season. I LOVE walking around the stores at this time and seeing all of the beautiful displays. It usually annoys me when in July they are putting out Halloween decorations but for some reason Christmas is different for me. I love the emotions that are stirred within me during these short few weeks. I love that I have the next 7 weeks to listen to music that turns my thoughts to my Savior and my family and the joy of this season.

So laugh if you may, but I for one will be singing my Christmas heart out!

Proud to be an American

What an awesome day for America. I woke up this morning dressed the kids in red, white and blue and headed for my township office. We had a great talk with the kids about how blessed we are to live in this country and how lucky we are to have the many freedoms that we enjoy. My polling place was busy and I could feel the excitment in the air. My kids are always putting stickers on me...this one however I am proud to wear!

Halloween Fun

What a fun Halloween! Dare I say the best ever???? This year we went to an adorable Halloween forest walk that they do here. It was so great I will never miss it as long as we are here. The weather was amazing and the kids decided to use some costumes we already had which was great for me.

Abby wanted to be a witch that she was in kindergarten. I was amazed that it still fit her!

Morgan was Cinderella and loved every second of it!

Ethan was Batman. This is him doing one of his "moves".

Here are our lovely pumpkins that we carved.

I also tried my hand at some fun Halloween treats this year. I think they may become a tradition. The kids loved the mummy dogs and the witch hats. The ghosts were sooooo yummy.

One of the best parts was that Charlie was supposed to have been out of town but he surprised us and decided to come home early. I am glad he was there...it would not have been the same without him. What a great Halloween!

Baby's First Feeding

Tonight Samuel was acting extra hungry and he is now almost 5 months old so I decided to give his first rice cereal feeding a try. He was cracking me up so I had to get some video. Abby did the recording since I was doing the feeding so it may be a little bouncy but I thought she did pretty good.

I hope you enjoy the video and that it brings a smile to your face as it did mine!

Saturday Chores

The only thing I hate about the fall is the falling of leaves. When you live in the forest 11 months out of the year it is pure joy. There is however one month that is more work than I care to think about. We have neglected our yard for far too many weekends and paid the price today. 3 hours later the job is pretty well done...well, "done" until next week when we will have to start all over again.

Before

After

So when I give one of you my baby to hold tomorrow at church you will know why. My arms feel like J-E-L-L-O and I am scared I might drop him. Happy raking!!!!

Come out, come out, wherever you are!

Last week while we were away someone put up two Obama campaign signs at the end of our driveway. As I mentioned before we let the boys have target practice on the signs at the primary party.
Last night we got a very odd phone call with a digitally enhanced voice and blocked caller ID telling us to go check our driveway. This is what we found.
Some of our sneaky friends are up to no good. I must say they have put quite a bit of time and effort into their pranks. The funny thing about it all is that we are not even totally anti-Obama or totally pro-McCain so we are not exactly sure what is prompting this behavior.

We got a good chuckle last night at whoever you are. We have these pranks narrowed down to a slim few....and as I warned before when you least expect it there will be paybacks!

Mother of 10 (for a night)

Last night I was the mother of 8 boys and 2 girls! My husband promised the kids in his primary class a party if they learned their articles of faith. The only trick was that they were COMPLETELY in charge of planning it. What did they plan???? What else, other than a camp out at Brother Carn's house.

To clear things up, the two girls were Abby and Morgan...his class is an all boy class. The boys had a blast! They played reverse hide and go seek, paintball involving 2 baby dolls that they had to "rescue" before getting hit and capture the flag. They also had target practice on this Obama campaign sign that was left in our yard the other night while we were away (to our sneaky friends that were involved...just wait...we will find you and pay backs are always twice the fun!). They also told scary stories that ended in the biggest scare of their lives thanks to Brother Wade who snuck up to their tent like a crazed escape convict from a mental institution!

They ate WAY too much pizza, soda, chips and s'mores. They stayed up WAY too late and woke up WAY too early. But wow was it fun. Ethan was so happy to finally have some boys around to play with. I got a little worried the other day when he asked a good friend of ours daughter when she could come over for a play date and have a makeover!!!

When it was all said and done we will have some tired kids today but I am pretty sure the boys had a great time and that good memories were made and some important friendships were strengthened which was the whole point of the party in the first place!

One thing is for sure...I would go broke if I had to feed this many boys on a daily basis!

Happy Birthday Morgan

4 things I love about Morgan on her 4th birthday:

1. I love her double dimples. Instead of two dimples one on each side she has two on one cheek and none on the other. Her nickname is double dimple and I just love them. You can kind of see them in this picture.

2. I love that she burps at every meal as loud as her father. As much as I protest I secretly think it is hysterical. I keep trying to get it on video but I have not caught it yet, but believe me you have never heard something so loud come out of someone so little.

3. I love that she spontaneously falls asleep in the oddest positions and places. Here are just a few shots of some of my most recent finds.

4. I love what a little dancer she is. If there is music playing you can bet her little bum will be shakin'!

*I love you Morgan*

Pumpkin Patch

We recently made our trip to the pumpkin patch. I seriously LOVE this time of year. Each day as I pull down my street I see all the orange, yellow and red trees and I am amazed at the beauty of where we are so blessed to live. We have spent the last few weeks enjoying parks, apple orchards, pumpkin patches and playing in the leaves in the backyard. We hope you all are enjoying your fall as much as we are!

Emergency Preparedness

Has anyone ever heard of emergency preparedness causing an actual emergency?

Let me back track a little.

A few weeks ago I attended an Enrichment Night where several women presented different outdoor cooking methods that could be used for fun or in case of an emergency if you had lost power or gas. One of the methods was an apple box oven. I had never seen anything like this before and it looked like a great thing to have on hand in case of an emergency.

So my good friend and I decided that this conference weekend would be a great chance for us to make our boxes and give it a try.

Here is a picture of the first step in covering the box with foil

Here is a shot of the completed boxes in the process of cooking our food.

This is our finished meal. Yummy chicken enchiladas and peach cobbler!! We were amazed at how quickly the food cooked and how well it turned out. It only takes about 10 coals and the food only cooked for 30-45 minutes.

So what was the emergency you may ask......

Well, after we ate our delicious meal we gave ourselves a pat on the back for learning a new skill and then went out to clean everything up and this is what we found. Yes, those are actual flames coming off of the box!

One may wonder what was under the flaming box.

Well, under the flaming box was a flaming deck...Uh oops!

So we had fun but learned a few valuable lessons. I don't think we will be cooking on the deck next time around! Don't you just love projects like this where you take one step forward and then two steps back?

I have a feeling that our next learning opportunity is going to be in deck repair :)

The Snake Whisperer

1 snake + husband in Europe = a very freaked out Brook

Yesterday I heard 4 little elephants running up the stairs screaming at the top of their lungs. What were they screaming......"THERE IS A SNAKE IN THE BASEMENT!!!!!!!" Normally like any good mom I would have shut the door and waited for hubby to come home and promptly send him right down the stairs and tell him not to come back up until said snake had been caught. Oh but I unfortunately did not have such a luxury seeing as hubby won't be home for 4 more days.

So I put my best "mom" face on and pretended like it was no big deal while inside my heart was POUNDING. I grabbed the biggest pot I could find and made my way down the stairs. I had the kids point out where it was and I saw it. Sure enough a living breathing slithering snake was curled up behind some toys. Ok so I must admit it was not a large snake. Seriously any husband would have laughed and picked it up and thrown it outside. But hello......I am not a husband. I feel fine admitting that I am a girly girl and I don't enjoy slithering creatures in my house.

After a few minutes of snake wrangling I caught it under the pot. I told Abby to sit on it and not move. I taped together some fedex boxes and slowly slid them under the pot. SUCCESS! I then carefully carried it outside and let it go out in the woods where it will hopefully stay.
Don't ask me where it came from. I seriously don't want to know and pray that it was a freak circumstance. I can now add one more notch on my mommy belt as doing something I NEVER thought I would have to do but some how managed to keep a smile on my face while doing it.

This is the closest picture I could find of my little friend. Needless to say while a snake was in my house my first thought was not to grab my camera and take a picture of it. Please don't laugh you will just hurt my feelings. Doesn't it look deadly?????

Hysterical Cards

Ok so I just found some of the funniest cards I have EVER seen...I had to share. I will for sure be picking some of these up! Check out the rest of them at http://www.lineuponlinecards.com/.

1st Day of school

The summer is over :( It all went by too fast. I really enjoyed having the kids home and I loved that they got to spend some great quality time with the new baby. But alas....the new year has begun.

Abby started 2nd grade. When she got home she said, "Mom, I know you are really nice but I think my new teacher might be even nicer than you". Well, I guess I'm glad she likes her teacher!

Ethan started kindergarten. What a big day for him! He was so excited to ride the bus he could hardly stand it. I love that Abby gets to ride with him and walk him to his class each morning. It was easier to let him go knowing that big sis would be watching out for him.

Morgan is in preschool and LOVING her new teacher. She also has a good buddy in her class with her and I think they will have a great year together.

I look forward to a few hours each week with only 1 child instead of 4. Wow grocery shopping is going to be a breeze!!!!!!