I am so proud of Olivia!

She worked so hard, and so here it is, her first "Wowie Zowie Zow."  Which in layman's terms means she aced her spelling test.

Happy Birthday to my sweet KMSU!

I just had to give a shout out to my sweet K (aka, Kfed)!  Happy day, girl!  I can't wait to give you a birthday squeeze tomorrow!  I LOVE you!

A hit and run

As I was driving my sweet new ride today, I came upon a cute little squirrel nibbling on a goodie in the middle of the road and I slowed down a bit, waiting for it to scurry away as they usually do. Well, it didn't scurry, it just sat there, very into its snack.  So, I swerved a bit, to miss it, and at that moment it chose to scram.  Well, great timing little nutcase!  I hit it!  Yuck! But not a big hit....... more of a partial hit.  I looked in my rear view mirror to see it struggling.  UGH!  I feel terrible!  And what's worse, I came back on that same route and it was GONE!  Oh dear, I have these terrible illusions of its little family coming into the road with a tiny stretcher made out of twigs and oak leaves and carrying it off to die in the shade of its favorite tree.  Am I terrible?  I feel terrible.  Oh, who's that knock on my door?  Probably PETA.

Snow Day!

School was cancelled on account of all the snow that fell last night.  Probably close to an inch. Whoa.  Good thing I have that sweet snow plow.  Here is Olivia's rockin' snow person.  She made it by herself at 7 AM while I was riding my exercise bike downstairs.  By noon, the snow was gone from the yard, and the snow man is melting, melting, melting.........

We made Kool-Aid playdough and the kids had a ton of fun playing with it!  That stuff smells so yummy!  But, it doesn't taste yummy, just ask Molly!

(BTW, Olivia did Molly's hair, don't blame it on me!)

Oh give me back my prophet dear....

Our dear prophet and president of the Church, Gordon B. Hinkley died today.  He was 97.  I absolutely loved this man.  He stood for all that is good in this world.  He loved and served in his church so faithfully for so many years of his life.  Here are a few things I learned from President Hinkley:

1.  Be kind to others.  No matter who they are or what they believe.

2.  Love your spouse and children.  Angry words leave ugly scars.

3.  Serve quietly.  Every act of good goes noticed by our Heavenly Father, if not by the world.

4.  Children are the greatest gifts we have in this world.  Cherish them.

5.  Follow Jesus Christ.  In small ways try to emulate the man who gave us everything.

6.  Serve in your community.  

7.  Share the gospel of Jesus Christ with those around you.

8.  Be grateful.  Nothing makes you happier than gratitude.

9.  All the other b's:  be smart, be humble, be honest, be true, what am I forgetting?

10.Have a sense of humor.  It gets you through just about anything.

The things I learned from this great man have changed me.  I am so grateful to have been blessed with his teachings and love.  He has made this world such a better place.  I will miss him.

This is what kept me busy this week:

 got barstools for a steal on Craig's list that are actually tall enough!

I painted this, and added the shades.

and I painted a fun sign with our family name on it, thank you Teresa for the letters!

In case you were wondering.

Highly recommended

I have now found a way to have chocolate for breakfast without feeling guilty!  I love this stuff. Every time I get a bite of chocolate I smile!  And, when you get to the bottom of the box, where all the chocolately goodness has settled, that smile lasts all morning.  Molly had some for breakfast this morning, and she kept digging for the little candies.  Each time she found one she held it up and said "I did it!"  

Fun for the whole family, at 120 calories per serving.  

I won it!

I won it in the last few minutes, ya'll..........I have been searching high and low for this, stalking the pottery barn website day and night. I finally won it on ebay in the last three minutes!  Ha!  I am so super excited!  

She insists on doing her own hair!

And, I let her for the most part.  What must the other parents think when she shows up at school, proudly flaunting one of her "O" originals?  Oh, well, she is proud as punch that she can do it, and it's too cute to argue with.  I did put my foot down when she tried to do two pig tails and one in the back, though.  We have a two pony tail limit.  

A few reasons why I love this boy!

He loves his rain boots.  Inside and out. Rain and shine.  Clothed or naked.  He rarely removes them!

He went potty twice last week, by his own suggestion. He beat his sister to the punch.  We'll see which one it sticks with first, but he's so willing to try new things, and loves the praise that results from accomplishment. 

Sad day......

I am having a sad day.  Two of my best girl friends EVER have moved away.  I love them.  I am missing them.  I feel their absence.  These are the two gals who reminded me how important girl friends are, and I love them both so dearly.  How will I ever survive without them?  BUT, I am so very grateful for the friends they are and I know that will last forever.  

Goodbye, dear Kristen (a little belated, but I could only write this post once) and Erin. Godspeed. Good luck.  Don't forget the one you left behind who can't stop crying randomly, at the post office, and at Target, to name just a few spots.  My days will not be the same without you.

A funny

Jon and I were talking last night after we put the kids to bed, and I was telling him that I feel like I need a project to take my mind off a particular sadness that has settled over me.  He agreed wholeheartedly.  I told him I was planning to paint.  Here's where it gets funny, because I was, of course, talking about painting the living room a new color.  But he thought I was planning on taking up painting, as a hobby, as in oil colors or pastels and landscapes or portraits.  So, we continued in this conversation for several minutes, in which he was getting excited over my new hobby.  Then, he asked me, "well, what do you need to get started?" and at that point I looked at him blankly.  "Um, just paint," I told him.  "That's it, don't you need canvases and stuff?"  This is where I started laughing hysterically.  How funny when you think you are 100% communicating clearly with your spouse and he has it WAY off.  I mean, he's lived with me for 13 1/2 years now, and he actually thought that every afternoon when my children are napping that I would don my smock and throw a canvas on my easel, hours later finishing my masterpiece and hanging them in various places around our home.  I don't have a creative NOR artistic bone in my body, dear Jon, but thank you for humoring me, and for trying so hard to be sensitive during this heartbreaking time in my life!

Ok, so maybe you had to be there.

Yippee! A new ride!

We finally did it!  We got a new(er)van!  I cannot explain how awesome this vehicle is!  We purchased a 2005 Honda Odyssey (touring model).  It is a silverish color, with plush gray leather interior, a navigation system, a dvd player so Max can watch Shrek, a back up camera (I didn't even know what that was or that we had it until I backed up in my driveway several hours later!), a six CD changer, and those cool auto doors I was dying for when I had a carseat on each arm!  Holy cow.  I am in heaven.  I keep making excuses to "run errands."  

Also, we finally did good in the negotiation process, as I made Jon zip his way too nice lips and let his hard ash wife do the negotiating.  It worked.  I never imagined when we walked onto the lot that this vehicle was within our reach, but we felt so good when we left the dealership without compromising the price we agreed upon before we left our house.  So, we are now having our cake and eating it too. 

In Honda luxury.

You are all invited to go for a test drive.

Happy Birthday to my favorite brother!

Happy birthday to you, big brother!  I just thought I would publicly (to all of my many blog readers) give a BIG shout out to the best big brother I could ask for, who I just LOVE.  It was his birthday yesterday, and I just think the world of him! Here are a few reasons why:

1.  He is a GOOD guy (in a world of not-so-good ones), and loves his wife.

2.  He is funny.

3.  He has great taste in music.

4.  He is a great dad, and LOVES his kids so much.

5.  He has a great heart.

6.  He tries to do the right thing.

7.  He never made out with any of my friends, even though I had many use me just to get to him!  (This is something he never believed, because he thinks he's not all that, which leads me to..........)

8.  He is super handsome.

9.  He loves his mom....... (yes, she is my mom, too).

10. And, he smells like Obsession, so no matter where I am, when I smell Obsession, it makes me think of him, and remember the above list!

So, happy birthday, big brother.  Have a great year.