I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking the kids to scout camp. I want there to be a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden. I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.
~Marjorie Pay Hinckley~

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Surprise!!!!


Ok, so maybe a lot of you have already figured it out, but we are expecting another little one. We were totally surprised, because we thought we were done having kids. I guess Heavenly Father knows better, because despite everything, I am pregnant again! We found out rightt after Christmas, and have just been waiting to see the Dr to make sure everything looks OK. Our due date is Aug 30, and we are really hoping for another girl, but we know we will love this little one no matter what! This is what I mean about God throwing a wrench into things. He knows better than we do, so plans don't always work out. We are really excited though.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Things I learned this week

So blogging is becoming my new addiction. I love reading all the links I find from one blog to another. Today I found this and wanted to play along.

What I learned this week:
1. Vernal Wal Mart sucks. Seriously. I can never find anything there that I need. Even Price Wal Mart is better.
2. My kids are hillarious! I just need to remember to take the time to laugh at them instead of getting upset at them all the time.
3. Just when you think you have your life all planned out, God throws a wrench in those plans. More about that later.
4. I am really and truly blessed in my life. As I look at so many people whom I love dearly and all the struggles they have to go through, my problems seem pretty lame and silly. Seriously, myself, my husband and my kids are all healthy; my husband has job security, which seems to be in short supply these days; we have a roof over our heads (a family in our ward lost their home to a fire Sunday morning); and there are so many other things. The Lord really has blessed my life, and I am grateful!

I am trying to post the link, but I can't get it to work. The site is www.musingsofahousewife.com. Sorry, technology is beyond me sometimes.

Monday, January 26, 2009

What I Deal With


This is a sample of what I deal with every day. This picture was taken last week after Bruce made pancakes and forgot to rinse out the bowl. Brennen got into it and was covered from head to toe with pancake mix. Once he dumped an entire bottle of syrup all over the floor and then in the same day he dumped a jar of jam all over the floor. My kitchen is always strewn with bowls, pans, and silverware and I can never find the spatula I need. He has also learned how to open the dishwasher and unload the dishes all over the house. Friday while I was in the shower, he smeared half a tub of butter all over himself, the floor, and about three bowls. He has also dumped entire boxes of cereal or entire bags of chips all over the floor. Goodness, no wonder I'm so tired at the end of the day. I know kids are naturally curios, but I have never seen anything like hurricane Brennen!

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Kids say the darndest things!

So I"ve been reading a few blogs about the funny things kids say, and thought that my kids say some pretty funny things too. You think that you will always remember them, but you don't, so I want to record a few of them. Last night for example, we were sitting at diiner eating Almond Chicken and rice and Tyson said "This is what you call International Food!" I don't even know where he learned the word International!
Kaden has probably come up with the best one liners. Once when he was about 3 he was sitting on my lap and he passed some gas. He looks up at me with a surprised look and said, "Mom, my bum just coughed!" We still laugh about that one. He also once told his dad when he came home from work and turned on the ball game, "Dad, you can't live by sports alone!" We have also discovered that Kaden is quite the romantic. When he was in preschool he was convinced he was going to marry our neighbor girl. He would tell his dad "You need to teach me how to Drive so I can drive Darby around." Or "When Darby and me are grown up, I'm going to buy her a house to live in." or "I hope Darby likes daisys because I am going to give her daisy's when I take her on a date."
Tyson is a little different in his tastes. Once we were eating at a resterant when a group of High School kids came in before their prom. We were explaining to the kids what prom was and why the kids were all dressed up. Tyson suddenly says, "There the girl I'm going to take to prom!" We wondered why that girl and he told us "Because she's wearing a green dress!" So a little note for future reference, if you want to go out with Tyson, all you have to do is wear a green dress.
Aubree's cute quotes usually involve the use of big words that we are just amazed that she uses. Shewas watching Elmo with Brennen one morning about up and down, and she said, "Or they could say ascend and descend!" The thing that made this even funnier is that she didn't realize I was listening. She was saying all this to Brennen!
Being a mom is probably the most unpredictable job in the world, but I love it!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Aubree's Birthday

I can't believe that my girl is nine years old! We had such a fun time celebrating her day! There was no school, so we got to spend the whole day together. She is such a big girl. She even got big girl presents. Mom and Dad gave her her own CD player and all the High School Musical CD's. She didn't want to go to bed last night she was having so much fun listening to her music.


For her party this year, we had a few friends over and had a pajama party. I think it was the funnest birthday party I've ever put on. We made it like a pretend sleepover, so we rolled out the sleeping bags and pillows. We played Truth or Dare. I made a list of questions and dares so it wouldn't get out of hand. they had so much fun, we did most of the dares twice! We had dinner and decorated cupcakes for dessert. Then we had a beauty session and I painted all their nails and put a little make up on them. Then we watched a Barbie movie and ate popcorn. It was fun to see Aubree interact with the other girls and be girlie. She's around her brothers so much and always ends up playing pokemon or Transformers, so it was fun for her to do girlie stuff.











She has told me for a month that she wanted a Hannah Montana cake, and I was at a loss as to how to do it. Then I found someone on the internet who had made a guitar cake for her daughter's Hannah Montana party. But they had a guitar shaped pan. So I kind of just winged it and I have to say, i think it turned out pretty cute! Aubree loved it, so I guess that is what is most important!

Monday, January 12, 2009

Brennen 2nd Birthday

The best part of the day was blowing out the candles! Whenever we would ask him about his birthday coming up, he would pretend to blow out the candles. When it came time to actually blow them out, he got so excited that he started screaming and he ended up screaming them out. The video is a crack up.
Brennen with his football player cake. I'm not the greatest cake decorator, but I have fun and the kids seem to like them.




Opening presents is a lot more fun when you know what to do. Brennen got a new piano (Tyson says it it so they can "rock out" together), a remote control cat, and a bouncing tigger. Brennen loves Tigger so much. As soon as he saw the Tigger, he just started hollering "TIGGER"!
I still can't believe that my baby is 2! Now that I'm older, time sure seems to pass a lot faster. It is so fun though tto see his little personality coming out. He loves Tigger, any kind of ball, and also playing in the kitchen, much to my dismay sometimes. He is a big helper too. He clears his plate every night after dinner and even scrapes the leftover food into the trash. He also loves music and loves to watch the Tabernacle Choir on Sunday Mornings. What a kid!
Happy Birthday Brennen! We love You!



Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Christmas Pics

Brennen was excited about his new clothes and wanted to put them on right away
Tyson's truck books

Kaden's Jazz Jersey


YES!!! A Webkinz!!





















So finally got my DSL hooked up and live in the 21st century, so here are a few Christmas pictures. This is one of our favorite Christmas traditions: decorating cookies for Santa. We are sure Santa loves piles of frosting and gobs of candy on his cookies.
We also have our traditional Christmas Jammies. That is my favorite part of Christmas!

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Happy New Year? That's It?

So Happy New Year everyone! 2009! WOW! We had a fun night with our kids last night. We took them to see the movie "The Tale of Despereaux". Both Aubree and Kaden have read the book and wanted to see the movie. It was fun, except when Brennen spilled his drink, and then wanted to drink everyone else's.
When we got home my kids were determined to stay up til midnight. In the past, we have celebrated "East Coast New Year" meaning we watch the ball drop on cable and tell them it's midnite. But now my older kids can tell time, so it doesn't work anymore. Brennen went to bed when we got home at 9:30. He is two after all. Kaden made it until about 10:15, and we lost Tyson about 5 minutes later. (The only reason Tyson wanted to stay up is to drink 'special juice', sparkling cider.) Aubree was still going strong, though. About 11:30 she started to get tired, but then the Jonas Brothers came on TV, and that revitalized her.
We woke the boys up about 5 minutes til midnight. After we counted down to the new year and blew our horns and drank our special juice, Kaden said, "That's it? Happy New Year? I'm going to bed." That pretty much sums it up.
Happy New Year! Have a Great 2009.