Family Vacation

We just spent the last week in California. 5 days of it in Disneyland ... yes you heard right 5! (not entirely recommended) The kids were really well behaved in the car the way there and back ... that in itself is a miracle and they were not even sleeping. We have seemed to bring home a little bug with us so we will post more later.

Dissed and Dismissed

So what it so great about being 6 month prego and being called to jury duty? You have to use the restroom facilities so much that it is not conducive to the trial. Oh bummer 2 years until my next possible jury duty.

Bump?

So I officially have THE bump! ... Some of you are thinking ... what are you talking about you have been showing since you thought about getting pregnant ... yes that is true ... but in the last week or so I have the "are you sure you are not having twins?" bump. ... I was foolishly thinking that because I have not gained even close to as much as I have with the other two that maybe I wouldn't get "that big" ... well folks the size of your uterus really has nothing to do with how much weight you gain ... it is going to get as big as it needs to for the baby ... whatever ... I was going to post a picture but I was not having it tonight ... I will post a picture soon when I am feeling a little more fabulous! Oh and by the way for those of you who don't know we are having a boy! Yeah boys!!!!

Happy Halloween!

Some fun decorations around the house!

Our cute little kitty cat!

(pictures of Guhn are on grandma's camera)

Yummy treats I made for Guhner & Addison's classes.

Hope you all had a GREAT Halloween!

First Grade

Yes, I am serious! Guhner is in first grade! We are so proud of him! He does so good in school and makes friends with everyone! He is in Mrs. Olsen's class, which we were very excited to find out that our cousin

Raven is too!

(Shannon & I both warned her)

Here is to a great first grade year buddy!

We love you!

Toothless!

I have to say Guhner is the cutest toothless kid I have ever seen.

After much waiting and anticipation

he lost his first tooth on July 10.

Just in time for first grade!

It is so cute to see him eat out of the side of his mouth. It is good I think it is cute because the tooth next door is very loose and will most likely be out in the next week or so.

Baby #3

We are very excited! We were waiting to hear the heartbeat before officially announcing it. We were able to hear it at our doctors appointment on Friday. Although most of you have known (once one McCleve finds out it might as well be in the paper) Now you don't have to pretend like you are trying to keep it a secret. The kids are very excited for a new baby! Christine is just over 10 weeks and is due March 1, 2009.

For Michelle

Deluxe Cheeseburger Salad

4 sesame seed hamburger bun tops
1 small red onion, divided
2 plum tomatoes
3/4 lb 95% lean ground beef
1/2 cup finely diced dill pickles
3/4 cups ketchup
1 tbsp yellow mustard
8 cups thinly sliced romaine lettuce
1 cup (4oz) shredded cheddar cheese

1. preheat oven to 425. Slice bun tops into 1/4-in strips. Arrange in a single layer on cookie sheet; bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly toasted. Cool completely.

2. Slice half of the onion crosswise into thin rings. Remove and discard stems from tomatoes; cut tomatoes into quarters lengthwise and slice crosswise. Set onion and tomatoes aside.

3. Cook ground beef over medium-high heat 5-7 minutes or until no longer pink, breaking beef into crumbles. Chop remaining onion half. Finely dice pickles. Combine chopped onion, pickles, ketchup and mustard. Add cooked ground beef; mix well.

4. To serve, Arrange lettuce on large serving platter. Spoon beef mixture over lettuce. Top with cheese, tomatoes and sliced onion. Arrange hamburger bun croutons around edge of platter. Serve immediately.

This is a pampered Chef recipe ... it says it serves 6 but I think is serves more. Super yummy and easy and great for summer!

The Poops

Watch out Addie Mae has the poops ..... poor girl! She was up every 15 to 20 minutes last night until about 4:30 .... of coarse she is super dehydrated but doesn't want to drink (have you tasted the pedialyte drinks? ... they are nasty ... no wonder she doesn't want to drink it) .... she is still passed out on the coach ... she has an appointment at 11 so hopefully they will be able to give her something ... here is hoping that none of your kiddos get this "bug"

Summer Fun!

So it is FINALLY summer for us! Guhn's last day of school was not until June 18th! I know!!!! The kids and I have already gone up to grandma perkins and everyday I hear "can we go to grandmas to go swimming" Of coarse .... it is so stinkin hot .... what else could we do!?! Here are some pics from this morning! Jordan better watch out! I see a new #23 comming up in the ranks!

Nacho!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope everyone else is having a great summer!!!

General Tips

We have been in the car quite a bit the last few days and here are some tips all parent should know and we were reminded of this weekend ....

always have in your car:

10 times the amount of plastic bags you would ever think you could possibly use (you know the ones from when you forgot to use your reusable shopping bags)
1 towel per kid traveling in the car
1 roll of paper towel
package of wet wipes (it doesn't matter how old the kids are)
change of clothes

This weekend we had wet wipes and change of clothes (only because we had stayed in Taylor and still had all our bags in the back of the car)

Addison has been sick and needless to say it would have been soooo helpful to have had a few of the things off this list. Have you seen projectile vomit in movies and thought ohhh that is sooo fake..... well it is not .... I have seen it first hand this weekend and it is sooo real. Poor Eric has been barfed on more times this weekend then anyone would care to in a life time (sorry babe but thank goodness it was not me!!!)

Anyway we will now be prepared with these thing and hopefully we will never need to use them!

*kinda funny a week or so ago this was the conversation in the car on the way to school

Guhn: Hey mom, I know 3 different ways to say throw up
me: Really what are they
Guhn: throw up, regurgitate, and barf
me: oh and don't forget puke
Guhn: oh yeah puke too
me: Guhner where did you learn regurgitate
Guhn: Mom! I am almost out of kindergarten!

Really???

Go ahead and count them ..... SEVEN pairs of shoes on the stairs .... and this was on a good day! As you can see the funny thing about it is that I was a major contributor to this stairway art! The funniest thing to me is that within the last 3 months we have added a shoe rack under the coat hooks and a shoe basket by the front door .... and yet this is where the shoes like to hang out! I hope I am not the only one with stair art like this.

Way to go Guhner!

Guhner finished his jr. suns season on Saturday May 10th. He was very proud of his "real gold" trophy and said that it was him dunking like Michael Jordan! Good job Guhn we are very proud of you!

Hurray!!!

Finally I found our camera cord!!! It magically appeared right in front of my face .... imagine that!

Happy belated Earth Day!

Why Reusable Bags?
(beside the fact that you look super cool when you do!)

A million plastic bags are used every minute worldwide.

In America alone, 12 million barrels of oil and 14 million trees go into producing paper and plastic bags every year.

Plastic bags are NOT biodegradable.

They clog waterways, spoil the landscape, and end up in landfills where they may take 1,000 years or more to break down into ever smaller particles that continue to pollute the soil and water.

Plastic bags also pose a serious danger to birds and marine mammals that often mistake them for food. Thousands die each year after swallowing or chocking on discarded plastic bags. ( I Know we live farther than any human should from the beach .... but I love to visit)

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 380 billion plastic bags are used in the United States every year.

Of those, approximately 100 billion are plastic shopping bags, which cost retailers about $4 billion annually.

Why waste plastic bags?

Choose reusable bags!

Seriously if you pay more than .99 or $1 for them you are dumb .... one time cost ....
everlasting effect on the environment ....

CVS even has them now for .99 (you can even buy them with your EXTRA CARE BUCKS!)

Thats my Girl!

Fortunately and unfortunately I do not have a picture to go along with this story ... anyway a week or so ago I had taken the kids to Chevron (our special treat place) to get either an Icee or an ice cream cone. They had both chosen an ice cream cone .... we were also getting Eric a fountain soda to take home to him. As I am getting the said soda Addison keeps telling me (20 times in 2 sec.) Mommy I dropped some of my ice cream, I turned and saw it was a quarter size drop from her huge waffle cone .... okay Addison just a minute I am trying to get daddy's soda ... she then continues to tell me another 20 times just as I turn around to see her bent over sucking the ice cream off of the floor!!!! SERIOUSLY! I don't know what the hurry was .... she had about 30 times that amount of ice cream in her cone ... or maybe she didn't want to leave a mess (which as soon as I was done getting Eric's soda I would have wiped up with a napkin) Then Guhner says "What mom it made the 5 MINUTE rule"

Honest to BLOG!

Seriously I know!
You have to shoot for the moon to reach the stars ... right???


P.S.
still haven't found camera cord :)

Challenge

So I readily admit I have been really lame at blogging .... I do enjoy it and it is like our family journal ... so I am challenging myself to blog every day in May .... It will be a whole lot easier and more interesting once I find the cord to transfer the pictures from our camera! Any one else who would like to take on this challenge .... go for it! Happy blogging.

BELIEVE

If this doesn't make you a believer nothing will !!!!!

I went to Fry's this afternoon .... and this is what I got!

4 - 1/2 gallons of milk

13 boxes of cereal

10 healthy choice meals (rain check)

9 boxes fiber one bars

1 box curves granola bars

5 boxes nature valley bars

12 boxes fruit snacks

10 men's deodorants

Total spent: $37.37

So like I said ..... if this doesn't make you a believer nothing will!

MRS. MCCLEVE

As most of you know I spend a lot of time helping out in Guhners class. While at school the kids call me Mrs. McCleve .... a little weird at first, but I got use to it. Well yesterday Guhners "friend" Matisyn was over playing after school and came up stairs to ask me something ... "Mrs. McCleve ......." Whoa! .... "Maty when you are at my house you can call me Christine ... only at school call me Mrs. McCleve." It was very weird to be called Mrs. McCleve in my own house! Plus it sounds REALLY OLD!!!! Any way I thought it was cute and this morning on the way to school I had to keep reminding Maty what my "real name" was.

I caught the FEVER!

Yes it is true!

I am officially signed up for coupons sense! I am so EXCITED. If you don't know what it is ... check out http://www.couponsense.com/ If you want to sign up there is this GREAT lady in my neighbor hood who is so nice and helpful and she even gave me a few of her coupons (I was able to get shout stain removal for 50 cents a bottle) Her name is Joyce and her email address is joycescouponsense@yahoo.com When I had kids in diapers it was worth it just for the diapers! Never mind the free deodorant, shampoo, peanut butter, cereal, fiber one bars, fruit snacks, yes you heard me right FREE! Now you know why I am so excited!

The Middle Wife

My dad sent this to me in an email (one of the few forwards that I happened to open)

I thought this was too funny .... those of you with kids totally get this!

The 'Middle Wife' by an Anonymous 2nd grade teacher

I've been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two kids myself, but the best birth story I know is the one I saw in my own second grade classroom a few years back.

When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that. And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it in to school and talk about it, they're welcome.

Well, one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the! front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater. She holds up a snapshot of an infant. 'This is Luke, my baby brother, and I'm going to tell you about his birthday.'

'First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad put a seed in my Mom's stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord.'

She's standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I'm trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement.

'Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts saying and going, 'Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh!' Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. 'She walked around the house for, like an hour, 'Oh, oh, oh!' (Now this kid is doing a hysterical duck walk and groaning.) 'My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn't have a sign on the car like the Domino's man. They got my Mom to lie down in bed like this. ' (Then Erica lies down ! with her back against the wall.)

'And then, pop! My Mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!' (This kid has her legs spread with her little hands miming water flowing away. It was too much!)

'Then the middle wife starts saying 'push, push,' and 'breathe, breathe. They started counting, but never even got past ten. Then, all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff that they all said it was from Mom's play-center,

so there must be a lot of toys inside there.'

Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat. I'm sure I applauded the loudest. Ever since then, when it's show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another 'Middle Wife' comes along.

Grass head guys

This is a project I found in family fun magazine. Hopefully you can see how cute they are in the picture. I brought the project into Guhners class for them to do ... they are so much fun and the kids love them! This is a picture of them giving their grass heads "hair cuts"
Cute easy project to do with the kids!

Supplies: knee high pantyhose
1 cup potting soil
empty (clean) yogurt cup (we used yoplait)
2 tablespoons grass seed
google eyes
permanent marker
glue (not glue stick)

Directions: (trust me ... follow these ... I tried to do my own directions and they turned out awe full)
place grass seed into bottom of knee high
top with potting soil
tie a knot at end of "ball"
trim knee high so that the "tail" will drop down to the bottom of the yogurt cup when "head" is placed on top
glue on google eyes and draw face with marker
fill up yogurt cup with water (at least 3/4 of the way) and check water daily
soon enough your guy will be growing hair .... and will be ready for hair cuts!

Happy Belated Birthday!

Sorry honey that this post is "belated"
I hope you had fun on your birthday!
Thursday was Eric's birthday ... we met grandma for lunch at R&R pizza, then we went bowling (Eric's fave!) and of coarse a few games at the arcade.
I thought I would share a few comments that were made that day that made me laugh

Addison: "Happy Birthday Daddy ... you are the birthday man"
apparently Eric is now too old to be considered the birthday boy

Guhner: "How old are you now dad?"
Eric: "28"
Guhner: " 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, WHOA!"

Don't feel too bad honey ..... I am right behind you!

Thanks Michelle!

okay so I haven't been on in a while and when I do I have a new header!!!!
Thanks Michelle .... you are the BEST! and so dang cute that I FORGOT that she was pregnant when I saw her the other day! Good thing you are my sister or I would hate you! :)

YMCA Basketball

This is Guhner & Matisyn

From the first week of school they considered each other boyfriend and girlfriend....although now it depends on the day if Guhner admits she is still his girlfriend "Mom we're just friends"

She is definitely a cutie!

Guhner just started YMCA basketball and Maty & Ethan are both on his team

(they are all in the same class at school)

Before we knew that they were all on the same team I was saying to Guhner

me: "Guhner wouldn't it be cool if Maty was on your team"

Guhner: "Yeah.......but what if she is standing too close to me and I dunk in her face!"

I didn't have the heart to tell Guhner that white boys can't jump ....

I am glad that he was concerned over "dunking in her face"

Guhner had a fun time at practice ..... I didn't go this week .... I stayed home with Addison .... she was in some need of one on one time with mommy

I will be there next time .... maybe I will be able to witness some of his "dunking skills"

I LOVE MY LIFE!

I may complain ....

dream of how green the grass is on the other side ...

but really I have a great life

I LOVE MY LIFE!

Here are a few reasons why...

I have a fantastic husband

I have 2 GREAT, HEALTHY, LOVING CHILDREN

My husband works from home!

Guhner goes to a great school and has the BEST teacher!

Addison is doing so good in preschool and we love Miss Melissa

We live close to lots of family and friends

3 things we do not have in our house: bottles, sip cups, diapers

This Sunday Eric and I will celebrate our 7th anniversary

Meatloaf

Easy Pleasing Meatloaf

2 lb. lean ground beef
1 pkg. (6 oz.) stuffing mix for chicken
1 cup water
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup barbecue sauce, divided

PREHEAT oven to 375 degrees.

Mix all ingredients except 1/4 cup of the barbecue sauce.SHAPE meat mixture into oval loaf in 13x9-inch baking dish; top with remaining 1/4 barbecue sauce.BAKE 1 hour or until cooked through.May substitute ground pork or veal for the ground beef and/or ketchup for the barbecue sauce.Prep Time: 10 minTotal Time: 1 hr 25 minMakes: 8 Servings--

I got this recipe from dinneronadime.blogspot.com I am NOT a meatloaf person .... but I LOVED this! Super Yummy! Super Fast! What else can a girl ask for.

(The day I made this I actually had some free time earlier in the day and prepared it all and covered it and put it in the fridge, then all I had to do is pop it in the oven!)

If you try it let me know if you liked it!

My Christine.....

Christine and I decided that we would not spend any money for the V-day this year.

That being said I would like to let everyone know why I do love my wife...

1. She loves me no matter how dumb I am or how long I play video games.

2. She carried a pager.

3. Everytime I go on a trip long trip she leaves me notes to find in my suitcase.

4. She has given me two beautiful children!


5. She takes me to a Cubs game every year on my birthday. Even though it is always hot!

6. She is the most beautiful girl in the world!

7. She has had many different hair styles...and has looked great in every single one of them!



8. 108% has to be a good sign right?

I know this is corny but that is ok! I love you Christine!

Got to try!

They have no name!

They are my vice....

I hardley ever share .... not out of selfishness ... out of lack of control

We are lucky if they last more than a day

I had a visiting teacher bring them to me once and have been in LOVE ever since

They are super easy .... especially how I do it

You use any cookie dough (I use the kind you buy in a bag and add a stick of butter & an egg to)

and put them in the mini muffin tins

(makes at least 24)

bake same as you would regular sugar cookies

the minute they come out of the oven press a recess pb cup in the middle

by the time you get to the last one the first one should be melty (yes it is a work) enough to stick 3 m&m's into (not 1 ...not 4 ..... not 2 .... 3)

I then stick them in the fridge to set up

Then yum yum yum

If by some miracle you are able to share (or you make a double batch)

They are fun and easy to make festive with seasonal m&m's

(the ones pictured are cupids mix m&m's)

Hope you enjoy!

Dinner on a Dime

So for the record everyone is in a horrible blogging slump .... including myself! Between all of you and the writers strike I have little to amuse me .... Yet I am trying to rise above this slump and share a little treasure with you .... it is a blog I happened upon (yes while I was clicking on your friends links .... hey you weren't blogging!) and it is a new favorite .... especially when I am in a dinner slump (which is most of the time :) .... anywho it is dinneronadime.blogspot.com while their directions could be a little clearer ... it helps give me new ideas for dinner .... so check it out and enjoy ..... and update your BLOG!

FlashBack ..... ?...Friday...?

So I am looking at all the blogs annoyed that no one has a flashback .... yet I have no room to talk do I? ..... Especially since I have not yet blogged a flashback .....

Here is a flashback near and dear to me there will be better ones to come .....

This was in August 2006

I can not believe how big they are now .....

It's my Birthday!!! ..... WEEKEND!

As most of you now have seen Deanna's blog .... yes tomorrow is my Birthday .... but I have been celebrating since Friday .... on Friday Eric asked me out on a date (which I still love when he asks me on dates) He wanted to take me to the Cheesecake Factory and to the movies (27 dresses) Well I opted for Ikea and the Cheesecake Factory .... I LOVE Ikea! We had a lot of fun! Then on Saturday the girls and I scrapbooked at Family Scrapbook Studio .... It was a blast! ... I can not say enough good stuff about that store! They are doing an amazing job! Every time I go there they have NEW stuff ... (good for me ... bad for the budget) So check it out ... I have a link on the right .... Then on Sunday we had family dinner ... my choice ... homemade chicken noodle soup!!! Yum! Yum! As if that were not enough mom also make bread and rolls with honey butter (not for the calorie counter) (Thanks Mom!) And to top it off Eric totally surprised me with a clip it up system (it is awesome and what I exactly wanted) I am so excited and will have to post pictures later! So I have had a FANTASTIC birthday and it really isn't until tomorrow!

Flashback Friday!

So Christine is with Guhner at school this morning so I thought i would add to the trend that will soon be swiffering the nation..."Flashback Friday"
This photo was from when I came home from my mission and was in the hospital. While I was sad to be home off of my mission I was happy to be with the most beautiful girl in the world!

Spread the Stupidity

Amanda sent this to me in an E-mail and it was too good not to share!

Spread the Stupidity

Only in America do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.

Only in America do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet coke.

Only in America do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.

Only in America do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.

Only in America do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.

Only in America do we use the word 'politics' to describe the process so well: 'Poli' in Latin meaning 'many' and 'tics' meaning 'bloodsucking creatures'.

Only in America do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.

EVER WONDER ... Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin ?

Why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed?

Why don't you ever see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery"?

Why is "abbreviated" such a long word?

Why is it that doctors call what they do "practice"?

Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons? Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?

Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?

Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?

Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?

You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don't they make the whole plane out of that stuff?!

Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?

Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?

If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?

If flying is so safe,why do they call the airport the terminal?

It gave me a good laugh ....

and for the record I am guilty of ordering a cheeseburger, large fries, & a DIET COKE!

This one is for you!

This post is for those of you who always say

"I have never seen your house messy"

Oh it gets messy....

This has to be the worst it has been in a while

Look now because I don't know if this will stay up for that long

(unless I can post a super clean picture in the near future)

The kitchen.... counters ... Island ....

papers .... homework galore! .... Mail .... magazines

boxes of food that just need to go in the pantry

Seriously it would take me all of 30 min to clean it up

but that would entail me cleaning it up ....

Yes .... I am STILL putting away Christmas

but I am also going through an OCD moment

Can I just put the stuff away? .... NO!

I have to reorganize ..... vacuum under the stairs

(where the bins go)

Just really make it more difficult than it needs to be!

Ahhh .... Last but not least the bedroom

The master bedroom that is....

or the pit of clean laundry

I do have that to say it is all clean

The pile on the floor next to the nightstand

The huge mountain on the bed

The bag of unpacked stuff from our trip this weekend

so maybe once I clean up the downstairs

(my OCD again)

I am going to haul all of laundry downstairs

and watch TV all night while I fold laundry

Hopefully ..... I just may watch the TV!

Miss Thing!!!!

BEFORE

Down to her waist .... Long "princess" hair

Every daddy loves a girl with long hair

Daddy was teasing her one day saying

"Hey Addison, Lets cut your hair short"

Expecting her to be horrified

That was not the case...

"Yeah Daddy! I want my hair short like Sydney's"

I didn't care either way.... Eric wanted it to stay long

After weeks of her being consistent in wanting it short we did it!

AFTER

We were going for the

children's version of the Posh Spice hair cut ....

It is not quite what I was looking for but it is

SUPER CUTE! Addison LOVES it!

I would like it a little shorter and more Posh like ... hopefully once the sickness leaves the family Aunt Deanna will fix it for us.

No, I didn't tell her to pose like that,

the extra spice came with the haircut!

(who would have thought that was possible)

CTR 6

My sweet Guhner Boy! It seems like just yesterday I found out I was pregnant with you .... But I can not remember what life was before you and your sister where a part of it .... You are almost 6 (even though you have been saying that since your 5th birthday) You never had a problem with nursery and it has been the same ever since .... you love your teachers and your friends .... you love to sing the songs .... you are also doing so well sitting quietly in Sacrament meeting

and passing the trays down the isle ....

You are growing into such a fine young man and

we are so PROUD of you!!!

Sunbeam!

Yes .... it is true .... Addison is a Sunbeam! I can hardly believe it! Guhner & Addison were both so excited that they would see each other in primary. She did GREAT! It probably helps that her preschool teacher Miss Melissa is the primary chorister. I think it has now been long enough that I take for granted that I get to sit through Sunday School and Relief Society uninterrupted .... I can remember those days .... walking the halls wondering if it was even worth going to church

when I was in the halls the whole time .....

not anymore ...

I have "BIG KIDS" now ....

It is true .... It all goes by way too fast!

So here is to you Miss Mae ... Big sunbeam girl ...

Mommy & Daddy are so proud of you!

Flashback Friday

So yesterday I was talking to Deanna and she came up with the idea of Flashback Friday.... blog style ..... so we look forward to seeing your flashback and stay in tune to see our Flashbacks .... they will be worth seeing!!!!

What a Nice Day!

Okay most of the time you will hear me whine about the weather....well today you will not! It is not too hot .... it is not too cold .... It is just right! I have all my windows open and fans going to "air out" my house .... Hopefully it will rid my house of all the sick germs. It has even given me the motivation to put my Christmas decorations away ( yes they are for the most part still all out) My kiddos have been sick .... they are on antibiotics now and they have been eating Popsicles and watching movies all afternoon.....and (knock on wood) they have not even been picking on each other! Like I said What a NICE day!

It's ON!

Saturday January 19th

Family Scrapbook Studio
(elsworth & ocotillo)

http://www.familyscrapbookstudio.com/

480-677-3363

There are only 10 spots so call now to save yours
*Don't forget to tell them you are with me!*

The price does not include dinner

The gecko grill is in the same plaza and soooo yummy!
( I am not sure the exact time .... I am sure they can tell you when you call to sign up)
I am very excited! Hope to see you all there!!!!

Still time to scrap

Okay so lesson learned ..... Check with store before posting it on your blog .... Scrappin Affair is a bust for that weekend ... I am making some calls and shooting for the 18th or 19th preferably the 19th and will post as soon as I confirm a time and place ... sorry guys!

It's time to SCRAP!

Friday January 18th

5:30 - 11

A Scrappin Affair

(crismon & baseline in the bashas plaza)

480-832-1084

Snack n' Scrap is normally $10 but if you tell them you are with me it will be $5

I am not sure how spaces they have ... I am going to call first thing in the morning

If we get at least 5 people to sign up with me then we can make it a private crop.

(If no one else is signed up ... I will find out tomorrow)

So come one come all .... If you are reading this you are invited ....

Well GIRLS ONLY (sorry boys)

Don't be silly the more the merrier call and sign up it will be so much fun!

Be Proud!

Besides my renewed spirit of blogging I finally had Eric show me how to add links. I am not dumb .... I just have to be shown how to do it! Why waste my time trying to figure it out when it takes him all of 30 sec to show me .... So thank you Eric ..... And to those of you who were feeling left out ... I am sorry ... I just didn't know how to add you! :)

Got Blog?

While I am on a blogging streak today I just wanted to say to those of you who don't have blogs ... its time ... really we are all too old for myspace ... and most of us are too married for myspace as well ... don't feel left out .... don't feel like you are starting too late .... it's just time. Swallow your pride and start your blog today!

Congrats!!!!!

I just wanted to say a big Congratulations to those of you who have recently found out you are expecting! I am very EXCITED for all of you ..... There is nothing more exciting then awaiting the arrival of the new little family member ... it is hard to imagine feeling as much love for a new child as you do for the one you already have but as Shannon put it so sweetly .... It only makes your love stronger. The moment they enter your life it is hard to remember life with out them. I can not wait to meet the new additions to your families! Congratulations Christina & Becky!

How Clean is your house?

I found a new favorite show .... it is on BBC America and called How Clean Is Your House? It is one of those shows that comes in and helps people clean their absolutely disgusting houses ... no seriously bad .... don't watch if you have a weak stomach .... anyway part of it the ladies compare side to side a chemical cleaner and a "green" cleaner (non chemical) to show that they are just as good, if not better .... so here is one to try

For window and mirrors

2 cups tap water

2 cap fulls white vinegar

1 pump of had soap

combine in clean empty spray bottle

spray on surface ...... (duh) and put your paper towel away and use crumpled newspaper

I know this works my .... Grandma Hart aways used this for her windows and I had forgot about it.

Not only is it good for the environment .... you are eliminating chemicals from your home and around your kids and animals .... it always leaves a streak free surface ..... and better yet it is super cheep!

I am definitely going to do this next time I do the windows and mirrors ..... honestly for the main reason that I always get streaky mirrors and it drives me crazy and Eric makes fun of me because it drives me crazy .... So have fun "green" cleaning!

Thanks!

So as you have noticed our blog is supper cute and festive!
I can say that because my super cute sister in law Michelle spent tons of time making it for us.
Thank you Michelle! You are the BEST!

Kiss

Last Night (New Years Eve) marked the 11th New Years kiss that Eric and I have shared. It was the 11th anniversary of our FIRST KISS!

This March we will have our 7th wedding anniversary!

Our relationship has never been perfect. There are always things that we need to work on (mostly me!) I would not change it for Anything!

Eric you are the BEST! Even when you drive me crazy. I could not have wished for a more loving or supportive husband. You are Amazing! You are funnier than I let you think you are. You rock at singing on Rock Band! You are a Fantastic father! Definitely the "cool" dad.

I am so glad that 11 years ago I let you kiss me!

Here is to many more New Years kisses!