blah blah blah

Seriously, nothing to see here, I'm sort of just writing something to have *something* to put up on here. We've been running around like crazy. Birthday parties, baby showers for Rickie and Shauna, movies, good bye dinner for Katherine and the best news of the last week: Rickie had her baby girl.

Monday I spent the day over at Karen's with all of our kids, and Rickie's, moaning about how long labor is for normal people. She went to the hospital around 4 am and we still hadn't heard anything at 1 pm, so I got antsy and called for an update only to learn later she had been born about 3 minutes earlier. My labors -from first contraction to baby- have ranged from 6 hours to 90 minutes, so this waiting all day thing is for the birds!

In my competitive spirit I had to rush over to the hospital and then trip Karen in order to be the FIRST to hold Avery. It was really late at night and I obviously had not looked in the mirror before I left the house, so I just cropped myself right out. She has the cutest, longest little toes and fingers and the sweetest cry ever. And look at that little bow!!

To be honest, I haven't been very excited to have another baby and I've been ESPECIALLY cranky about having to be pregnant again, but the second I held that baby I couldn't help but think, "I want mine. Like right now." Well, I mainly want mine right now so I don't have to be pregnant any longer. How on earth do people "cherish" this??

You will never find me posing for a belly shot mainly because I think I look about 8 months pregnant, I'm only like 5, and my face is already starting to get fat. My hips are killing me, I still need a nap every day, I can barely walk past 7 at night and I feel like an old lady half the time. I guess I just needed to hold a little one again to remind me that it will all be worth it.

I think I'm Paranoid

No, this post is not about my Rock Band awesomeness, although I do love the vocals and this is one of my favorite songs to sing because I actually know it. . . but I digress.

I am a total worry wart it's a genetic thing inherited from my Grandma. Just ask Dustin. I can take a normal little problem and turn it into a complete night's worth of angst. And the worst part is, once I start. . . I cannot stop. I just think of more outrageous things to freak out about. I literally have the most illogical thoughts some times. I try to keep it under control most of the time, but some days are just hopeless.

Case in point: About 2 weeks ago I was coming home from the park with the kids when the FedEx guy pulls up. My first thought? Hurry and close the garage door because he's probably going to forcibly take my keys and break into the house. Instead because I realize that while possible, the chances of this are slim, I kept getting out of the car. I've got Sadie on my hip, my purse, the bag full of sand stuff from the park, a bag full of snacks and water from the park and the lunch I picked up on the way home from the park and the FedEx man is approaching. Don't freak out don't freak out. Instead of knifing me he says, "This box is pretty heavy, do you want me to just set it somewhere?" I point to the closest corner of the garage and say thanks. What a nice guy. Sorry I thought you were going to mug me.

I then completely forget about the package until really late that night when Dustin comes in with the box open, "Do you know what's in here?" Oh my gosh, I have no idea what's in there. My mind immediately jumps to who knows where. Poison? Dead animals? Body parts? "Get it out of here! I don't want whatever it is in the house" I'm hoping it was just the late hour that was making me so irrational because it was just the PS3. Like I was going to guess that? Why would Dustin even ask me if I knew what was in there unless he was trying to rile me up on purpose?

So the next day I'm telling my sister the story and we're laughing at how insane I am sometimes when she tells me her story. My Aunt Kristine ordered her birthday present from China, so when a package arrived from China, Kathleen was pretty sure there was anthrax in it and didn't want to open it either. See? Totally genetic!

This did not help when I kept reading all these horrible things about kidnappings and murders in Mexico right before our trip. The taxi driver talking over his walkie talkie thing? Pretty sure he was planning our kidnapping and ransom. I didn't even want to leave the resort if I didn't have to, but I knew I was being totally irrational and ventured out for Dustin.

And we survived, but once we got home, Dustin kept making fun of me. So I started sending him articles about how dangerous Mexico is. Well guess what tidbit of information he comes home with one night?? Phoenix is the kidnapping capital of America. Second in the WORLD right after Mexico City. Just google it. It's true! So we totally have to move now.

Only my sister need apply. . . and randomness

First order of business:
So my friend Brenda is doing a cute give away on her blog, but the catch is -- you in turn have to have a give away. I'm pretty sure everyone would be scared of what I had to offer -- so my feelings will not be hurt if not everyone runs over to sign up. Here are the rules

The first five people to comment on this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year (hopefully sooner than later.)
4. You will have no clue what it is going to be.
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
I did not make up the rules -- I SWEAR! These are the REAL rules.

The catch? Oh the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me you did will win a marvelous homemade gift by me!
Let the games begin!!

Secondly,
my niece's teacher's husband -- got all that-- is on AMERICAN IDOL!! So if you've got a spare vote, could you vote for Brent Keith?? My niece is really super cute and I know she would appreciate it.

Third,
I was cleaning out the pig sty that is Ellie's room on Monday why do I feel like I could write this every day where I found loads of Valentine's candy wrappers and just general junk. When Ellie came home I proceeded to lecture her on the importance of keeping her room clean. She then went into the playroom and came out with a card: Dear Mom, I'm sorry my room is a giant trash can. Love, Ellie.random picture found on my camera this afternoon

We loved, we laughed, we lived

I guess the good thing about uber late church is that I can always find time to blog on Sundays. So here goes the Valentine's wrap up.

Wednesday Nate had his preschool party. Last year I bought Nate Spiderman Valentine's on sale, but guess who decided he HAD to have Transformer Valentine's instead?? Maybe he'll want the Spiderman ones next year. He carried that bag of Valentine's everywhere for at least a week and insisted on showing all of our neighbors. At the end of school, they put on a little song for us and gave all their moms carnations. Plus they had decorated sugar cookies, so I think I ate half of Nate's cookies before we even got home. They were delicious.

Friday Molly threw a party for all of our friends and their kids which meant something like crafts and cookies for 20 kids. She is much awesomer than I, that's for sure.Sadie decided to use a sucker to spread her frosting. Every year I hand make one kids' Valentine's, just so I fill my "crafty fix" and remind myself how much work stuff like that is so hopefully I'll remember not to try to hand make my Christmas cards this year, and this year it was Sadie's turn. I opted for the super easy and fast Flower-Pencil-Valentine which turned out super cute thanks to the Target Dollar Spot.

I then ditched my kids with friends and ran off to host Ellie's class party. There must have been something in the air that day because about half the boys were being the biggest stinkers. I came home and told my girlfriend that anytime you're starting to be cranky with your own kids, you just need to go spend some time with other people's kids and suddenly you like yours a whole lot better. Oh well, I do it so Ellie has a great time, not me. For her smile I'd put up with a hundred stinky boys! I mean, I'm contributing two of them to the world after all.

That night Dustin and I went to play games with friends where we played a very controversial yet holiday appropriate version of The Newlywed Game. All you need to know is that Dustin and I totally won -- and that is why we are such an example of the perfect marriage ;p. And women are masters of Mad Gab because we spend half our life discerning the ramblings of toddlers.

Saturday we decided to play it low key and hang out with the kids since we had celebrated way too much in Cabo. Dustin got Valentine's doughnuts for everyone for breakfast and then we handed out our Valentine's. Instead of buying for each other, Dustin buys for the girls and I buy for Nate. Nothing huge since we don't want to raise them to have completely outlandish expectations from heir significant others in the future -- just a fun card and chocolates, but the kids really love it. And of course we had home-made heart shaped pizza for dinner and chocolate molten lava cake for dessert so sad the kids didn't like theirs so we had to eat double.

The best part of the day was when Dustin came home from Costco with a memory foam topper for our bed. Apparently he was sick of hearing me moan and complain every morning about how old I am and how bad my hips hurt from sleeping on my side all night. I wanted to go to bed right then, but I guess 4 pm is not an appropriate bedtime even if you use the "But I'm pregnant" excuse. Especially if you just woke up from a 2 hour nap. Of course I can barely climb into our bed now since we already had an extra pillow top thing and an extra stuffed mattress cover. This morning Sadie came in to wake me up and I could only see the little top of her head.

Seriously -- the best night sleep ever!!! I had this dream where I was drinking a glass of water and sucking on the ice, but water kept oozing out of the sides of my mouth. So I spit the ice out, but water was still coming out of my mouth. I then woke up to find myself sleeping in a puddle of my own drool.

I decided next year I'm going to buy some of those cheapy kid's themed Valentine's and hand them out to my friends because why should the kids have all the fun? I forgot my other Valentine success -- I taught Ellie how to change Sadie's wet diapers. Hooray for outsourcing.

Mexico -- FINALLY!

I admit to being a total slacker about blogging our trip. Part of the problem was coming home and having to jump right back into school, laundry, cleaning, Valentine's parties, getting Ellie's cast off WOO HOO but also partly because I don't really know what to say. I hate giving out all the details because there were parts of the trip that were totally over the top, but my sister insists that vacation blogs are supposed to be braggy. We were seriously spoiled rotten and you're probably going to hate me at some point. In fact, I kind of hate myself but I know how hard Dustin worked and he totally deserved every second of it. Me, on the other hand = free loaderWednesday while waiting in line to clear immigration, I had to go pee a common theme on this trip where I was immediately reminded that we were in fact in Mexico as I stared up at the sign asking me to please put my toilet paper in the trash and not flush it down the toilet. Oh Mexico, thank heavens the Hilton Resort has better plumbing. I should also add that increased peeing is not the only side effect of pregnancy affecting the trip -- I have awful motion sickness and barely made it through the landing.

We were lucky enough to be in a van with the only other Business ByDesign people on the trip so it was nice to start the trip knowing we had some friends along. As soon as we got to the Resort, I needed to eat. As we were looking out at the water we saw a whale just splashing around. We were in total awe until about the 3rd day when we realized we would see whales just about anytime we looked out at the ocean. I also learned that I would never need to place another napkin in my lap, pull out a chair or pour a drink of water for myself either.

The second thing I did in Cabo, after eating, was take a nap. I know -- you're starting to realize that maybe I'm not the most fun to take on vacation while I'm pregnant. But hey, it was my vacation! When we got to our room we had a little goodie bag from Land's End who runs SAP: a beach bag full of beach towels, sun screen etc. That night SAP through a cocktail reception where I ate way too many fried appetizers and then we went for a walk on the beach before heading in and sitting in bed and finishing These is My Words. I loved it BTW!

Thursday included:
Sleeping in
Breakfast in Bed
Dustin went zip lining and repelling while I enjoyed the spaLunch by the pool while I read my second book of the trip
Getting to pick out sunglasses courtesy of Maui Jim's, who also runs SAP
Another nap and then the gym to work off the excess of calories
Dinner with friends
And I finished my second book: Confessions of a Shopaholic I must see the movie now

We started the day off Friday swimming with dolphinspicture of a picture since they don't actually let you bring your own camera

More food and more pool time
While I napped Dustin decided to go out on a jet ski and see the whales splashing around
Gym again -- even if it did practically no good since I still gained a zillion pounds
SAP cocktail reception and sit down dinner with comedian Demetri Martin. Dinner was down on the beach so I made sure to use the bathroom a billion times before we left because I didn't want to be hiking back up every 5 minutes. Once I realized they had brought bathrooms down to the beach, all bets were off.
Finished my third book.
Room service dessert because I just hadn't consumed enough calories for the day

Saturday Dustin informed me that he could not sit around the pool for one more day. Apparently we have completely different ideas of vacation. So after amassage and mani/pedi for me, plus the Breakfast Buffet and too many pieces of french toast, we ventured off the Resort property by ourselves, despite my conviction that we were going to be kidnapped. We obviously were not.

We took a glass bottom boat to Lover's Beach where I learned Dustin and I also differ on taking pictures. I'm a big fan of people in pictures while he's more of a "take as many pictures of anything that I can." Below are some of his snapshots while I was trying not to barf from sea sickness. The water was really choppy at times.

My kind of snorkeling
Window to the Pacific Lover's Beach where we hung out for awhile. Half of it is on the Sea of Cortez side so the water is calm and there is great snorkeling and the other side is on the Pacific Ocean where the waves crash and you can see the whales passing by.

Then we ate a late lunch and did some souvenir shopping, including visiting the Del Sol store since Dustin worked for them while we were in college. I still remember their Christmas Party where they gave us all DVD players and a bunch of DVDs. DVD players were still pretty new back then and a lot of us were poor college students so we all squealed with delight. Now SAP spoils us with things like a Playstation 3/Blu Ray player and we haven't even opened it.

All the Del Sol products change color in the sun so they were instant hits with my kids. Poor Nate was mad yesterday when I told him he couldn't wear his shirt for the third day in a row.

After we finished shopping, we headed back to the hotel where I took a really late nap so we could meet my friend June and her boyfriend for dinner that night. They just happened to be in Cabo at the same time and we had a great evening. June is the best and her boyfriend John is almost as great.

Sunday was the sad day where we had to leave paradise. I managed to squeeze in some more calories, a few more hours by the pool and the rest of my fifth book while Dustin went shopping to spend the rest of our allotment and buy a few more presents. You know I'm exhausted when I don't want to go spend someone else's money.

After we got home and got the kids in bed, Dustin and I were pulling the pillows off our bed and he asks, "Where did the turn down service go?" I honestly miss having someone come and make my bed every morning, complete with folded towels a la Disney Cruise, and then coming in every night to a fresh bed with goodies. And so that was our vacation that we decided could count as Valentine's Day and our 10th Anniversary all rolled into one. Thanks Sweeite!

Later!

I just finished sorting through a pile of swimming suits. There is a definite problem with going to Mexico in February being almost 5 months pregnant. I don't really fit in my normal swimsuits and maternity swimsuits kind of drown me. Plus, there's not a large selection of stuff out anyway. Last week I hit the stores thinking I could find something to fit my expanding chest and stomach but pretty much everything for the stomach was not meant for my chest. Luckily for me, I have the best girl friends EVER who all raided their closets for anything that would work. Obviously not all of these worked, but I couldn't help laughing at the huge pile of swimsuits on my bed. I can now happily run off to the beach for 5 days with 3 swim suits that cover all of me. MWAH!

Add in the people driving my kids to and from school, my mom who is flying out as we speak, Meredith who hooked me up with some super cute "in between" dresses for the night time events. . . I don't know if there is suitcase big enough to haul back all the thank yous I owe people! I am so grateful to all of you.

And also one more big MWAH to Jill, my hero, who loaded me up with a pile of books to escape. Hopefully next time you see me I'll be tan and not the fake tan I've got going on right now and rested!

Google Image Search is my friend

Friday was a Luau at Nate's pre-school. I knew we were going to have a hard time getting him to dress up when he wouldn't even wear the lei announcing the event home from school. "I don't want to wear that necklace. It's for giirrrrls." Then you should have seen his face when I showed him the Hawaiian shirt Kerry had handed down to me. The horror! "No. It has flowers too. Flowers are for girls." I felt like banging my head against a wall because that excuse never works for me when he comes out in that stinking tutu.

I tired explaining that Polynesian men LOVE wearing flowers and if you want to see a big manly man, it would be a Tongan! Finally we google searched images where I could show him football-sized man after football-sized man wearing a lei and a flower shirt. PHEW!

Other time google images worked for me: shots. Nate cried for THREE days after he got his shots. I'm not sure why because he was getting absolutely no sympathy for me, but I'm pretty sure Nate thinks whining is a talent that must be developed. So finally I sat him down on the computer and showed him what kids who have had Polio, mumps, measles and rubella look like. He finally agreed that the shots were way better than that. HOORAY! And then I ripped those band aids off and he cried some more.

In weekend news -- Saturday morning we decided to see if the kids had learned their lesson from last week and asked them to clean up. The kids managed to get their chores done by noon. So they shaved 6 hours off their best time and even managed to get lunch :D My bathroom was pretty bad so I called my mom, who is coming tomorrow, and asked her if she could please clean my bathroom for me. I even gave her that whole, "WAHHHH I have three kids and I'm pregnant so I can't do anything" sob story apparently Nate didn't fall far from the tree. You know what she told me?? NO! She said, "I'm coming to play with the kids." Obviously my lack of compassion also comes honestly. So I cleaned my bathroom all by myself, and by *I* cleaned my bathroom, I mean Dustin did, because I was busy shouting encouraging things to the kids like, "I am going to vacuum in ten minutes and any toys left on the floor are getting sucked up." I really was being productive elsewhere in the house in my defense.

Then that night we managed to find a babysitter, despite Alex Rogers being in town and every single YW from our Ward wanting to hang out with her, so I'm no longer speaking to Dori ;p. She was new and Nate could not remember her name and called her Teacher all night. Ellie liked her because "she was pretty and had a sparkly shirt." The feat of finding a babysitter was totally worth it because we got to hang out with some of D's old mission companions who we only see ooooooh, about every time I am pregnant. So I guess we'll never get to see them again since this is the last baby. EVER! It is such a small world since it turns out one of the couples went to HS with our neighbor, one of our good friends and works with my mom's cousin. Mesa is like a secret society although I think I know enough people to be "in" -- I SWEAR!

And Sunday I got my new calling -- Sunday School teacher. I am really excited. The class actually TALKS and they make me laugh, although I did have to confiscate Skylar's lolli-pops TWICE sorry Becky.
Random picture for my sister who doesn't know what a messy bun is.

Facebook for Kids

I've decided that getting a cast for kids is kind of like joining Facebook for adults. It's like a random collection of people in your life and you've never had so many friend requests in your life. Even people you barely know. Example:

On our way back from Pinetop we stopped at a Wendy's to grab dinner. While we were ordering the girls at the counter were so cute asking Ellie how she broke her arm. . . Finally one of them pipes up, "Can I sign your cast?"

My sister has been dying to see a picture of her cast without the sling, so while we were taking these picture, Ellie noticed the under side of her cast is completely blank. "Look Mom! More room for people to sign."

The results are in. . .

And I got the word that I am officially excused from Jury Duty. Hooray! I was not looking forward to driving into Phoenix tomorrow morning and spending the day in a court room.

Oh wait, you probably don't care. You're here for the ultrasound results.

This morning I woke up and came out to the kitchen to find Nate eating a bowl of cereal. "Mom! Are you having a boy or a girl?" When I explained that I didn't just wake up knowing and I had to actually go to the Doctor he said, "It just HAS to be a boy." When I asked why he told me, "Because I want it to be." I wasn't nervous about dashing his hopes, though, because I was POSITIVE it was going to a boy.

Wow -- I'm really dragging this out, huh? Let's skip to the end where the tech says, "Oh, of course it's a boy, there's a hand between the legs." This of course made me laugh, which was not good since my bladder was ready to explode. Finally the baby moved so we could get a good view and we learned it's a . . .











































BOY! We're so excited. Two girls and two boys. How spoiled am I? Even better -- everything looked great, despite my less than stellar pre-natal vitamin taking track record.

Sad Sunday aka wallowing in self-pity

My sister was bugging me because I hadn't updated in awhile. I think I'm trying to forget the week even happened. Ranging from my crazy mommy moment where I emptied the contents of Ellie's closet into the hall it had something to do with wearing 4 different outfits that day which were mingled among the outfits she didn't chose on the floor to the 8 shots at the Doctor Nate is STILL crying over those to Nate's choking incident He and Ellie had refused to eat dinner, but they smuggled cereal into my closet where he promptly choked on a piece. Lesson learned?? Probably not and oh so many more non-memorable moments.

Yesterday was the icing on the cake: 8 hours to clean Nate's room, Ellie's room and the Playroom. I could have done the job in about 30 minutes, but since I'm trying to produce functioning members of society, I asked the kids to do it. I even started out with the whole, "Hey, you're going to have to clean it no matter how much you cry and no matter how long it takes, so let's skip the whining, hurry up and do something fun today," speech. Instead of doing something fun I managed to clean the kitchen, hand clean the floors, clean all the crumbs out of the drawers, straighten my cabinets, re-organize the pantry, clean out the fridge, empty the junk drawer, sort mail, clean the bathroom, organize the girls' hair stuff, do a load of laundry, read a few chapters in a book, watch a TV show, dink around on the internet. . . So yeah, I need some tips on how to motivate my kids to pick up.

Today is going to be really really sad though. Last week, I was released as Primary President. It had been a long time and Dustin had recently been called to be YM's President, so I knew it was coming, but still bittersweet. There are going to be a lot of things I won't miss, but I'm definitely going to miss the kids. I don't know how I am going to make it through Church today just sitting there for the whole 3 hours. Do adults say funny things in Sunday School? Are there going to be colorful visual aids? Will we get a wiggle song in Relief Society? Will someone want to sit in my lap? Need me to take them on a potty break? Can I sneak out for a snack in Nursery? In case I haven't proven my point -- Primary is the place to be!!

And I don't think they're letting me out of Jury Duty on Tuesday. WAAAHHHH.

But since I don't want to be a Debbie Downer, let's end this thing on a positive note! I did have some awesome girl time this week. Temple night and dinner with my best neighbors/friends, sanity-restoring lunch out with sympathetic friends, and Friday at the park with more tmi-sharing girlfriends -- so no pity necessary. Annnnnnnd, tomorrow is my ultra-sound! Send BOY vibes and yes, I know the sex has already been determined, so it does no good, but if you're a good friend you'll do it anyway.

Chilly

There is still a mess from breakfast and bags to unpack, but since I'm sitting here watching the inauguration, I might as well be somewhat productive.

Thursday we left to go up with the Wright's to their family cabin in Pinetop. It was a hard vacation let me tell you. I'm not a big fan of the cold, so I volunteered to stay inside with the babies a lot. I managed to finish a book and 4 magazines and take a few naps. Plus they are such great friends that I couldn't beat the company.

The weather was actually pretty warm for this time of year, but there was plenty of snow, so the kids had a great time. Even Gimpy got out to have some fun! I will say -- snow clothes are a PAIN! I do not envy those of you in cooler climates. No sooner would the kids come in and sit by the fire before they wanted to be bundled up again. Also, I hate socks.

Dustin was sweet and took the kids sledding every day. That's got to be a workout in itself, which is probably why Dustin could eat all the fattening food we ate when we were up there. I gained 5 pounds. And I can't blame it all on the baby.

While we were up there, Sadie turned two. She was the cutest birthday girl ever. Really. You might think I'm exaggerating, but Sadie really can be the most charming child ever and she was especially angelic on her birthday. I think she might have been in shock that she was getting so much attention.

As a birthday present, the Cardinals won their game. WHATTTTT? Seriously, it was a shock. My brother lives in Philadelphia and his boys LOVE the Eagles, so before the game I wasn't sure who I was going to root for. After that first touchdown, I was a true AZ fan and I felt like they were playing a grudge match similar to the way I feel when the Y plays the U. Happily, this had a better outcome. When they won I was screaming and jumping up and down like I had been born and raised a Cardinals fan. Although now I feel like I have to watch the Superbowl. That means more nachos and 5 more pounds.

I'm outside -- random thoughts

Just hanging out while the kids ride bikes. So fun to have the neighbor kids over for a playdate because it means less work for me :D It is actually kind of hot out here, but I'm not complaining.

Ellie did break her arm :( She now has a lovely hot pink cast with sparkles. She let us all sign it, but no one can see it because it has to be in that navy blue sling. At least it matches her uniform.

I am so out of shape! I think I've run 3, maybe 4, times since Iron Girl and this week I decided to get back to the gym. My body is so sore. Why is it so easy to turn into a big ball of flab?

Cutest sight of the day: Nate and Sadie our neighbor dancing. She was Snow White and really wanted a Prince to dance with, but I guess Spiderman would do. They were kind of holding hands and she says, "No Nate -- like this" and puts his arm around her waist and her hand on his shoulder. Then she said, "And then we kiss." It was sooo cute. Why are the Tyler's moving?? They have to stay so Nate and Sadie can get married.

Sadie turns 2 on Sunday -- it's sort of weird to think she's only 2 because she already seems like a 5 year old, but she is so so tiny. She is not going to be happy about the baby because her newest obsession is pretending to be my baby. She lays in my lap and makes me rock her and sing to her. "I'm the baby!"

And today I found a stack of Christmas cards that never got out. I am a JERK! So if you didn't get a card from us -- this is what we look like.

One Sad Morning

Not today. Yesterday. In fact it was so sad, I slept right through it.

Yesterday my sister flew home after a fun filled week. So fun I didn't take any pictures so if you really want to see some, you'll have to stalk my sister's blog. Her account will be funnier anyway. I think I did a pretty good job of showing her the oh-so-glamorous life of a suburban stay at home mom. Carpool, speech, shopping and lunch, the movies, pedicures, grocery shopping, surprise party, toilet papering, lunch with Ellie, cooking, subbing for Bunco and lots of napping.

Since I've been pregnant, I have had a horrible time getting up at 7 to get Ellie ready for school. Luckily for me, Dustin usually gets home from the gym around then and either wakes me up, or lets me sleep in a little and gets Ellie up and going. My sister's flight left at 6 and Dustin was going to run to the gym after, which would put him home way too late to be our alarm clock. I put a phone next to my bed and asked him to call me to make sure I woke up.

Long story short -- I put the phone with the ringer off next to my bed and didn't wake up until the door bell rang for her carpool. Best husband EVER: mine. Because after calling me three times with no answer he ran home and STILL got Ellie ready for school.

I had grand ambitions of getting picture of all the kids with their sad little faces, but it didn't happen and you can never recreate it. So here is my pathetic attempt to make Ellie be sad one morning later.

See her little sling? Another reason I was sad yesterday. During all the fun while my sister was here, Ellie fell off her bike and broke her arm Friday afternoon :( I was so worried about sending her to school for the first time, but she did great. I think a big help was taking her off the Tylenol with Codeine they gave us. HOLY COW -- if the weepiness and general lack of personality are just a taste of teen ager-hood, I think I'd rather skip it. Lesson learned: MOTRIN! Today's her appointment with the Orthopedist so cross your fingers it's not as bad as we thought.

One liner summary: We had a great time with my sister and we've got the battle wound to prove it.

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

School starts back up tomorrow and can you guess what we spent our day doing? Getting haircuts! OK, just Nate, but after I tried to style his hair and he looked a little too much like Robert Pattinson, I did make sure he got a haircut this morning. The highlight of the day was riding horses! Karen's parents own two of the sweetest ponies ever and invited my kids over to spend some time on their little mini-farm.

Ellie may have been the first to actually get on a horse, but she definitely wasn't the bravest of the day. Please note her "I'm Going to Die" smile. She got really good on the ponies and even was able to get on herself by the end. That's my cowgirl! Not so brave when I put her sister up there with her. Sadie's problem was being TOO brave. We put her on a pony and off she went without even holding onto the saddle, so she ended up having to always ride with another person.

Nate had no desire to ride the horses until I put him up there and then he was HOOKED! Nate is pretty well known for despising animals and nature in general, but he LOVED their house. He was climbing treesfeeding chickens out of his hand even HOLDING the chickens

Sadie, on the other hand, is well known for her adventurous spirit, so she had no problem getting down and dirty with the animals from the minute we got there. She spent a lot of time mooching rides with the other kids And when she couldn't ride the horses, she rode the dog. I was worried about the chickens' safety, though, since the first thing she did was grab their little faces.

My kids favorite part was doing "The Trick." Basically while on the pony, you ride under a bar and grab onto it. While the pony keeps going, you slide ride off her back and fly through the air with the greatest of ease.
The first few times required a little assistance, but by the end the kids were doing it all by themselves! One time Nate was just hanging there because we forgot he needed help getting down.
At the end even Karen and I went for a little ride. Except the ponies were a little tired and spent most of the ride trotting us back to the barn. Also, I am allergic to horses. REALLY REALLY allergic and I looked like a swollen strawberry by the time I got home. Time to shower.

Thanks for the fun day guys!!!

Baby It's Cold Outside

Actually, that is a complete lie. The weather has been gorgeous here this week. It's my clever way of being smug because I have been here enjoying an Arizona winter and my husband has been freezing his tush off "snow camping" with the YM. I've only heard bits and pieces from moms/wives but I do know a couple of boys came home early, one was up all night throwing up and one broke his wrist -- poor Janda boys. Welcome to YMs Dustin -- I think he'd like to be released now ;p Although, I did hear from someone that those who stayed were having a blast. We'll get the scoop this afternoon.

I should also mention that my kids told me TWO NIGHTS IN A ROW that my food was, "as good as Daddy's." No lie people. And so here is my secret.
1. Call sister whinning that Dustin has left absolutely no food in the house and I don't want to go to the store.
2. Rattle off entire contents of fridge, freezer and pantry and have her laugh at me because there really is no food in the house.
3. Make pancakes per my sister's suggestion with whole wheat flour because that's all we have.
4. Pancakes do not taste yummy -- lather with buttermilk syrup we were given as a gift
5. Kids eat 12 pancakes between the 3 of them and RAVE!
6. Throw in turkey bacon for protein.
7. Repeat whinning the next night.
8. Borrow tortilla chips from neighbor and cover in salsa, sour cream and velveeta cheese -- none for Nate because as we all remember: he hates cheese. My sister hates tomatoes. Then watch kids ask for THIRDS!
9. Add in black beans and ground beef for protein.

So basically my secret to getting my kids to eat: buttermilk syrup and sour cream.

Anyway, back to my "cold" theme going on here. You know when it was cold? Last week. BRRR! The few days before Christmas were rainy so the Haymond's Christmas party was rescheduled for clearer skies. My kids were devastated, but finally the day after Christmas was beautiful and we bundled up for the party.

They have hot cocoa and cookies and her dad takes everyone caroling around their neighborhood on a hay ride. It was so much fun and my kids loved it. In preparation for being out in the 50 degree weather I dressed my kids in 2 layers of pants, long sleeve shirts, sweaters, coats from my sister's wedding, hats, scarves, gloves, knee socks and boots. Then I realized they were going to melt in the car ride over. I am glad we don't live in the cold weather. Especially because 50 degrees is probably pretty warm for an evening elsewhere like Virginia, where my sister lives.

I think Ellie went on every single hay ride, so she had to do drive through to get to her cookies. I wonder what kind of cookie my sister would have eaten?
Nate got to hang out with his best friend, Daven, so he was happy as could be. Looks like Daven is a BLANKET HOG!! My sister is also a blanket hog. Sadie would yell, "HAY RIDE" and run over and try and get on herself. Then she would bounce and sing the entire ride.

And so that is what we do when it's cold outside in sunny AZ.
* parts of this post were edited to appease my sister who is coming to visit in two days.

Christmas Day

It's only appropriate to blog about Christmas now that all my Christmas stuff is put away.

First thing Nate did when Dustin woke him up was come running back into the bedroom where the rest of us were all nestled all snug in our beds yelling, "MOM!!!!! Santa brought two bikes!!! A red one and a pink one." ARGH! Thanks for spoiling the surprise for your sister. Oh well, at least he was excited.

I was super proud of myself this year because for the first time EVER, I feel like I didn't go completely over board on presents. We decided each of the kids would get one gift from Santa, plus some books from Mrs. Claus, one gift from us, and then one gift from each sibling. Once you added in stockings,gifts from Grandparents, cousins, Aunts and Uncles -- they still got plenty of stuff.

You wouldn't even know Sadie got presents because she wouldn't even open them. Once she found the chocolate in her stockings, she was done. My parents got her Rose Petal Cottage and the first thing she did was open the oven, "Where are the cookies?" When none could be found, she put all her half eaten chocolates in there.

If you asked Nate what his favorite toy was, he would say, "All of them." He was especially excited for his Transformers. After a week of practice, I'm actually really good at transforming them back and forth, but Nate says my Transformer voices stink. Sadie bought him some boy dress-up after Halloween. When he opened them he was so excited, "You bought me these so I don't have to wear girl dress up anymore???" Oh yeah honey, because we forced you to wear that pink tutu for 2 years.

Ellie got a lot of clothes/jewelry/shoes/purses. . . all that big girl stuff. She was super super excited to open up my sister's gift -- the one thing she had been begging for and I SWORE I was not buying her -- Puppy Grows and Knows Your Name. The dog has springs in it so it grows a little big everyday and you hook it up to your computer so it learned Ellie's name. It will say things like, "Thanks for naming me Candy, Ellie."

After breakfast burritos -- per Rogers family tradition, you can tell he grew up with all boys, no sweets to be found -- we took the kids out to ride their new bikes and scooters and scooters. I love Arizona weather on Christmas day!!! My kids have been out with the neighbors on their bikes every.single.day.
Nate STILL hasn't gotten that haircut.
before he rode his bike he INSISTED on getting all his gear on.

Sadie brought out her doll stroller from Grandma and Papa Rogers. Our kids were so sweet and so grateful for every gift. I love how excited little kids get over everything. As always -- a perfect Christmas Day.