Nothing too exciting

I always plan things for "when things slow down." Well, that never happens. Life just seems to get busier. That's why I have such a hard time posting to my blog. I wait until I'm not busy. hahaha!

My poor little Mason. I guess I wouldn't be a mom if I didn't worry, but he can be so difficult. There has to be a more effective way to discipline him. He is such a sweet, sweet kid but it so stubborn. Man, it's so hard. I need an instruction manual.

I've been reading a really good book that I recommend. It's called, "If momma ain't happy ain't nobody happy" by Lindsay O'Conner. It's a book for Christian women, especially mothers. It explains exactly how I feel. I know I am blessed to be able to have kids and stay at home, but sometimes that doesn't make my job any easier. She gives some really good insight in how to deal with our emotions and find the joy in every day. It really helped me to know that I'm not alone in my struggles and I got some great advice to make me and my family happy. So good!

I don't know if I'll ever get used to living here in Tennessee. It's already so hot and humid. Yes, it's only 80 degrees but it's so humid that it necessitates running our air conditioner. Today I can actually see the moisture in the air. So crazy. Last night I had a meeting for church(at our stake center that is 1.5 hours away) that got out after dark. I walked outside and expected to feel a crisp breeze. I almost chocked. Yes, it was cooler, but still soooo humid. And the bugs, oh the bugs. We were coming home, after our meeting, on the interstate. The hugest, biggest most disgusting bug hit the windshield. We all thought it was a rock or something because it was so big and so loud. But it left a big gross smoosh mark so it must have been a bug. ewwwwwww! Crazy Tennessee. But on the upside, it is absolutely gorgeous here! The trees are so thick and so green. It's so pretty.

That's it for now!

Happy Weekend

We had a great Easter weekend.

*we had an egg hunt with our neighbors.
















*we colored Easter eggs (yes, Mason is in his underwear!)















*we got lots of great prizes from the Easter bunny. Addi: Polly Pocket, princess playset. Mason: leapster game, matchbox cars. Chris: speakers for his mp3 player, electronic chess. me: new camera bag, new sd card from my d50








*Mason learned to ride his bike without training wheels!

technology and other stuff

So I finally came into the 21st century (that is what century we are in, right?) and got an ipod. I am so not good with technology. It actually scares me. But I bit the bullet. Ok, so I love it! Yeah! I can't wait to take it to the Y to work out!


*I did my first photo shoot ( a REAL one) over the weekend. They chose 3pm, so the sun was way bright, but I think they turned out ok. Here is my fave. My goal is not to just do "school picture" cheese photos, I want photograph relationships too. That is why I love this picture, because it shows the little boy, holding his dad's hand. I am trying to come up with a name. It will probably be candice schenk photography unless someone can come up with something better.

*Mason lost another tooth for a total of 2.

*We've still been going to the Y doing rally well at going. It's worth it just for the childcare. And all of the treadmills have tv's in them, with cable, so all you have to do is plug your ear phones in and go. Fabulous! I actually get to watch the shows I want, have someone else watch my kids and exercise all at the same time. Couldn't be better!!!

*It's official-Chris got a promotion. He is the manager over the "tech refresh" project. It's a team that will go through all of the HCA facilities to update their computers. He's been working a ton of course, nothing has changed there. But supposedly he's supposed to be traveling less. Yea, he's only going to Florida tomorrow for 1 day in stead of a week.

*Addi has been so funny lately. She talks with her hands a lot and is sooooooooooo dramatic! Cracks me up. Her and her babies have made many imaginary trips to Ootah lately to see Gramma and Papa and Gramma Sylv.

*As for the blog, I think I have decided to keep doing it. But I am not going to go too nuts with posting. I'll try to do so at least once a week. Hope that's ok with all of ya!

to be or not to be

So in the spirit of evaluation, which I have been doing A LOT of this year, I have been evaluting this whole blog thing. I totally get why people do it and I think it's great. I don't know if I'm doing it for the right reasons though. I don't like that when something great happens in my life and I can't wait to blog it. Not tell my family or write it in my journal. That is a bit messed up for me. Not to mention, it takes up a fair bit of time. Time that could be better spent writing in my journal. To me, the hand written books are so, oh I don't know, authentic. I don't print out my posts from my blog and I don't know of any of my family that actually reads it so whats the point??!! So I am going to go on a hiatus and think about this for a little while! If anyone does read this (I know K and Angie do but I will still keep in touch with them of course) and wants me to keep updating, please comment. Thanks!!

Vacation

Orlando, here we come! I booked our air fare to Orlando...so it's official. We are going on our first family vacation! I can so not wait!!!!!!!! May 11-17. woo hoo!!!!

My Kristi talked me into posting my layouts from HOF. So here is the first one. It was the fave photo asignment.

Mason

Oh my sweet boy! I just want to put him in a bubble. I don't want to let him get his feelings hurt or figure out that some people in this world really aren't all that nice.

*at the pool today he kept trying to talk to the lifeguard, even though she was busy giving a swim lesson. He just wanted to tell her that he was learning how to swim too. He also kept trying to talk to all of the kids there. They just looked at him like he was nuts. Then when he went down the slide the wrong way another lifeguard tried to tell him not to do that but Mason didn't hear him because he was playing so hard. The lifeguard just rolled his eyes and acted like Mason was crazy. So I asked him nicely to go down the slide correctly.

*last night we went out to dinner. While Addi was in the potty, Mason and I stood there and waited for her. A couple of girls walked in and Mason couldn't wait to tell them that he had a loose tooth. I tried to tell him not to talk to strangers but he said that they were his friends.

*yesterday at the park there were some big boys, around 8 years old playing with a soccer ball going down the slide. Mason kept retrieving the ball for them when it would bounce away. He tried as hard as he could to throw it nicely back to them. He even apologized when he didn't throw it right to them. When they left to go play somewhere else, Mason didn't understand why they didn't ask him to go with them. He kept saying that his friends left him.

Oh, the pain in my heart. He is the sweetest, friendliest kid. All of those kids should be so lucky to have a friend like him. Man, I hate this. The thought of my baby suffering is more then I can bare. Can't I just lock him in the house for the rest of his childhood? I don't want him to suffer because of his naivity

Time Off

Ok, so Chris is coming home a day earlier than I thought. I know those 2 of you that read this and know me will have a hard time believing this, but my house is a disaster. I haven't made beds in 4 days. That must be a record or something for me. I haven't vaccuumed (I think that's spelled wrong but my spell check isn't working) in a week. So tonight I changed sheets, cleaned the bathroom, did a load of laundry. Tomorrow I'll just have to vaccuum the house and actually make the beds.

We've been so busy. Our time off this week has really flown. We joined the YMCA and have been going there. I worked out 2 days (pathetic huh) in a row and today am feeling it. My mucles don't just hurt, I ache...like crazy!!!! Apparently I need to start a little slower. My initial plan was to just take my kids to the child care there, then go in the locker room and read a magazine. ;) But, the thought of swimwear this season has spurned my desire to stop the giggling (nice mental image huh) and get some tone!! So we've been going to the gym, we went to Chuck E Cheese's, the mall to play in the play area, out to dinner, the park, the movie store, and more. It's been lots of fun, but I'm pretty tired. I think we're just going to take it easy tomorrow, after cleaning of course.

While blog surfing today I found this awesome quote: "True love does not come by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly." Such great words to live by. Marriage is hard, wishing that your mate was perfect makes it even harder. I know I'm certainly not perfect and I hate that I expect others to be so. This is something that I am going to work on!

Spring Break

I haven't ever been a partier so Spring Break hasn't ever really been that big of deal to me. (although I did like to live vicariously through those MTV babes). Now that I have kids, spring break means one thing...they are OUT OF SCHOOL. And no that is not good yelling. I am used to having 10 hours a week to do errands, rest, watch Martha, shop etc. Ya know, important stuff. But now they are out of school. On top of that, Chris is in Utah. (I don't envy him though because he is saying goodbye to his 85 yr old surrogate grandmother who is suffering horrible effects from a stroke and is rapidly declining.Prayers please!) Bottom line, my kids are home all week and no one is here to save me. :)

So today, we started our spring break celebration. We went to Opry Mills mall. It's HUGE. It has a full size Bass Pro Shops, Old Navy, Bed Bath and Beyond, Barnes and Noble, Saks, Macaroni Grill, Chilli's, Friday's, Tony Romas, Rainforrest Cafe, Aquarium Restaurant, a 10 screen movie theater with an IMAX plus a bunch of outlet stores and a food court. It ROCKS!!!!! The mall is a destination all by itself. We ate pizza, then shopped for a little while, getting swim suits, sunglasses, some Crocs and some clothes. Then we visited the fish at the Bass Pro shop, went to the Disney Store outlet and then ate at The Rainforrest Cafe. It was fun. I wish I could have relaxed a little more. I put so much pressure on myself for us all to look our best and of course I want the kids to be perfect so I get quite testy with them. But we made it and had a decent time.

I have lots of other fun stuff planned in the next few days. So hopefully we'll have lots of fun and make some great memories this Spring Break.

In other news, we heard that Mason did not get accepted to Thurman Francis. I am so bummed out! I only received a form letter, so I don't know the results of his test. Chris offered to call the school to find out since I am a little too emtional about it. I have total faith that God knows what is best for our family, I am just sad. I think part of my sadness is that I have to tell Mason that he won't be able to go to "his Kindergarten school." That is what he calls it. Hopefully he'll be excited about the school we are zoned for. Another part of my sadness is that the teachers who tested him couldn't see how special my babe is. He is a difficult child, but he is amazing. I hate when people can't see that! I hate that they think of him as just another kid who didn't have the right stuff. He's freaking special dang it! The last part of my sadness is that I feel like I haven't done my job in teaching him what he needs to know. I worry that I haven't prepared him. Yet, he is doing fine in Mothers Day Out. Hmmmmm...this mommy guilt is something that I am all too familiar with.

I guess that's if for now!

May and Ad

Look at those sweet babes! Mwah!
No other 2 people:

make my heart overflow with love
make me want to pull every single hair out of my head
make me laugh until my belly hurts
make me lock myself in the bathroom for 5 minutes of peace
make me want to buy them everything at the store for their 5 minutes of joy

make me wish for a mute button
make me yell in one breath and laugh in the next
make me watch the same Disney movies over and over...and like it!

make me love more than I ever thought possible!

HOF

Ok, I am trying to be gracious and be happy for those ladies that won. I mean, they are talented and deserve to win. But darn it, I feel like I did my best work this year and I didn't get anything. I have entered before and haven't ever heard anything. My past entries weren't all that great, but THIS year was different...I felt so good about what I did. What a bummer! Today is the last day I can feel sorry for myself. Then I am moving on. I know I just need to keep trying and all that jazz, and that is what I am going to do.

So in the spirit of trying, here is a layout for Robyn Werlich's 3 product challenge. (floral paper, a shape and writing on a photo)














this is one of my favorite photos of my kids. The journaling is about how they find such joy in simple things such as playing in the sink and how I could learn a lot from them to find joy in the simple things.

Happy St. Patricks Day and other ramblings

I am a little bit crazy about holidays. I love decorating...I love celebrating...I love going all out! We had shamrocks up in our windows, a leprachaun dressed bear candy dish and various shamrocks around the house. My kids really enjoy it, but even if they didn't, I would still do it! Today we took down our St. Patty's day stuff and put up our Easter stuff. My biggest problem is not being able to find the cute, boutiquey type stuff here in Tennessee that I could find in Utah. Any on-line places I can find stuf like that?

Yesterday my kids and I went to the local children's museum (The Discovery Center) with some friends. We had lots of fun and all the kids looked so cute all dolled up in their green. TDC has so much stuff to do, my biggest problem was keeping up with where each of my kids took off. All in all a great day spend with friends.

Today Chris and I were talking about the kinds of things we want to instill in our kids. The things I find most important and want to teach my kids are:

manners-not only please and thank you, but writing thank you cards, etc
being true to your word-doing what you say you'll do
budgeting
unconditional love
the importance of balancing having fun with responsiblities
personal hygiene-hahaha! I may be a little bit of a clean freak, but sheesh, it's important to be clean
washyour hands and brush your teeth. yes I have issues with this :)

There is plenty of other things to teach my kids, but those are the things that are most important to me. Chris has things that are most important to him that he is working on. I am so grateful that my kids have 2 parents to teach and raise them and help prepare them for the world.

Boo Hoo

Not a good day today

-Went to McD's but it was FILTHY! We should have left but we ate our lunch anyway. The kids had a blast. I threw their socks away when we left and made them take their clothes off when we got home so I could immediately wash them. Have to think of somewhere else to go next week.

-Watched Ethan, Mason's friend from school, like I always do onWednesdays. It's not bad at all usually. Usually the 3 of them play so well together. Usually I can even get in my scrapbook room. Not today. They all got in a fight about 2 minutes after Ethan walked in the door. After the fight they proceeded up the stairs to dump out every basket of toys we had in the play room and in Mason's room. Ug!

-We played outside with the neighbors for a while, which was great, but we got in so late that I didn't even start dinner until 6:15. Of course the kids were starving so not only did I make dinner, I had to put in some noodles for Addi and pizza for Mason. Nothing like making 3 different meals at one meal time. Double Ug!

-We were all ornery at bedtime. Chris and Mason got in a big, fat fight. I don't know which one of them is more stubborn.

-I tried to figure out how to scan and stich my 12x12 pages so I can submit more. My scanner isn't working and I have no idea how to stitch. Bummer! Going to have to stick with taking photos for a while.

-Didn't get a call today either. I told myself I wasn't going to get so uptight about it this year. I didn't look up when the date was so I wouldn't agonize about it. Well, unfortunately I found out that calls are going on right now. I am sick. I truly do feel that I did my absolute best work this year. So that should be good enough. I just wanna feel a little love. I think I'll stop and pick up some brownies tomorrow!

Tomorrow should be a better day. M and A will be in MDO (God bless that program!) and I am going to lunch with some of the mommies from MDO. Maybe I'll run to the scrapbook store, a little emotional shopping!

What a day!

Wow, this day has been crazy! Look what I did this morning...yeah me. It was so fun. I went in to get a pedi, with a gift certificate and ended up getting my nails done. Those little ladies are so persuasive. Ok, so maybe it had something to do with the fact that I couldn't understand what she was saying. Either way, they are so pwetty (Addi speak) and I love them. Chris just shook his head!



When I picked my kids up from school, we stopped by the grocery store for snacks before going to the park to play. Well, Mason and Addi BOTH proceeded to throw a fit and scream as loud as they could because I wouldn't let them have Mountain Dew. I'm sure all of the people in Kroger could tell how unhappy we were. I was so proud that I held my ground and didn't give in. Neither of them got a soda and we went home, not to the park. I didn't yell or spank, I just dragged them kicking and screaming to the car and ignored their protests the entire way home. I even expained to them how much I loved them, even though I didn't like their behavior. So proud of my self control! :)


After a cooling off period, we went outside to play. Even though it was only 50 degrees out, the kids just had to turn the hose and a make a mud puddle. I knew where that was headed, but I just let them go. They were both froze to death (Addi was playing in the water coming off the faucet but I didn't get a pic of that...oops.) but they had so much fun. It's a good thing Chris wasn't home, he would have lost his mind!










In other news, Mason lost his first tooth. I can't believe it! He's big now. His tooth had been loose for quite a while so I nudged it while I was brushing his teeth and out it came. He is seriously SO excited and can't wait to check his tooth fairy box (thanks Aunt Mel) in the morning for the money she'll leave him. I am thinking of leaving a note in there with this cutest little tooth fairy bag saying that since it was his first tooth, the tooth fairy thought Mason's mommy wanted to keep it to put in his remembrance box so she left it in this bag.(Oh, his interview at the magnet school was today too, but I have no idea how he did since they wouldn't let me in there. He said it was fun though. fingers crossed)

I guess that's it for now.

ps I didn't get "the call" today. boo hoo!!! I am thinking a big fat batch of brownies are in my near future. :(

I'm back!

I got my new laptop today! WOOOO HOOOOO! It's been a long, l o n g few weeks without a computer! My kids' old puter just wasn't cutting it. I am so happy! I am beat tonight so I can't think of anything too interesting to write, but tomorrow I'll be back with some photos!

Update on me

My laptop died so I've been using my son's puter to catch up on everything. Well, it is old and didn't have the latest and greatest internet explorer so I couldn't update my blog. Now, Chris installed ie so I can blog and he's wiping the hard drive on my laptop so I'll have it soon too (minus my favorites and my photos from January). Whew, how I've missed him, my lap top, I call him my boyfriend. I'll have to come up with a name for him. Hmmmm...

Chris went to Dallas last week on a business trip. We were ok, excpet no one really slept well. I guess we all hate when he's gone. I get so jealous of him traveling. It sounds like such a vacation to stay in a hotel, ALONE, have nice dinners (paid for by someone else) and not have to clean up after myself. I know he has to work really hard when he goes though.

I did go to the scrapbook store last week. I don't really like this time of year in the stores though. There isn't a lot of new stuff because they are waiting on their orders from CHA. I was hoping to get really inspired, but I'm just not. Maybe March CK will help.

We actually got some snow. And it's been here for 2 days. It is SOOOO cold right now that the snow isn't pretty it's just a frozen mess. My church even got cancelled this morning. I didn't know they cancelled for such things. Oh well. We've actually had a nice relaxing day...made cookies, painted wooden airplanes, went outside for a bit, Chris fixed the reverse light in my car, I did a little cleaning and now I'm getting ready to make calzones for dinner.

That's it for now. I am so boring!

Update

So sad...my laptop crashed. Luckily I backed up my July through Dec photos the day before. Not so luckily, my January photos are still on there. At least Mason's birthday ones are on the scrapbookpictures.com website. Thank goodness. I HATE not having my laptop. I feel so out of the loop. I haven't been on the puter for ever! So I guess I won't be downloading any photos for a while until I either get a new one (pretty please Chris) or he gets my broken one fixed. Yes he is a computer guy, but he's not a magician.

Enough rambling....now an update:
*Saturday we went to Dora the Explorer live. It was soo fun. I think I had as much fun as Mason and Addi had. We keep singing all of the songs from the show. So fun! I was bummed out not to be able to take my camera for some photos, but I really got to sit and enjoy it not think about how to photograph it.
*A fire has been lit in Mason's head. He is learning his letters so fast. His desire is so big. I love hearing him making letter sounds. Whoever came up with "Leap" products is brilliant. Just this week I have bought Mason a new Leapster game, a Leap DVD and a fridge magnet thing that makes the letter sounds. He thinks he's playing, but I know he's learning. I love it. We sing the alphabet sounds all day. It's great. How did kids learn the alphabet before leap? :)

I had a bunch more very important stuff to say, but now that I'm on here, I can't think of what it was...so I guess that's it for now!

My little buddy is FIVE!! I can't believe he turned five today! We had such a great day. He is such a good kid. He was so excited for his birthday. We did the countdown all week to today. He got to choose which of his friends came over for his Carnival party, 11 kids in all. Both of his Grandma's were here from Utah. Wow...what fun! I am exhausted!

OK, so I really am alive.

I don't remember being this busy before. I have a million things going on. I am almost finished with my HOF entry and am working on another sb project. Plus I have been on a crazy cleaning spree! I have thrown away so much stuff and need to take half of my garage to Goodwill. That mixed in with trying to be more involved with my kids, so they'll watch less tv, my church calling and this weekend my in laws and my mom are coming for Mason's birthday....whew! Busy busy busy! I am so stinkin' excited for Mason's party. He is too. We are having a Carnival. It should be tons of fun! More about that later!

I've actually been tagged!

4 places I've worked:
-ORMC, a hospital in Utah, in the pharmacy
-OWATC, a technology school, teaching the pharmacy technican class
-Kent's Pharmacy
-SAHM

4 movies you would watch over and over:
-any Harry Potter movie
-Office Space
-The Notebook
-My Big, Fat Greet Wedding

4 places you have lived:
-Tremonton, UT
-Ogden, UT
-Smyrna, TN
that's all

4 tv shows you love to watch:
-Grey's Anatomy
-ER
-Decorating Cents
-Lost

4 places you've been on vacation:
-Oklahoma
-Chatanooga, TN
-Utah
-Texas to see my Kristi
(isn't that list exciting!)

4 websites I visit daily:
-blogs
-yahoo
-airline websites (to bring my mommy here)
-nick jr (for my kids)

4 of my favorite foods:
-candy
-mexican
-chips and queso
-my mom's roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy

4 places I would rather be right now:
-in my scrapbook foom working on my HOF entry
-in bed sleeping so I could kick this virus
-anywhere on vacation that didn't require me cooking or cleaning
-?

Update

We're home from Oklahoma and what a trip it was. Here is our trip in a nutshell:
*our car broke down on the way there-needed a new battery
*Addi got sick-visited the rotten ER and diagnosed with a virus
*I got sick-visited the rotten ER and diagnosed with influenza
*Mason, Chris and Melissa visited the zoo while Addi and I hung out on the couch being sick
*We did have fun on NYE playing games and eating junk food with Melissa, Scott and some other friends
*Our car broke down on the way home too (new fuel filter) but it's still not fixed

We are all still trying to recover. Mason now has influenza too. We haven't left the house except to go to the doctor. Chris had to go do all the grocery shopping. He took 2 days off to take care of all of us and I'm sure he couldn't wait to get out of the house of sickness to get back to work.

I haven't even had a chance to really play with my new camera. I am still trying to get my stuff done for CK HOF, but I haven't been in my scrapbook room since before Chrsitmas. I can't get my sorry self off the couch. So that's about it for now. Pretty Sad! I'm hoping to be about back to normal by Monday!