BROKEN WASHERS, AWARDS, AND SICKNESS...................OH MY!!!

So can I tell you how Manson my week has been?????? It has taken every ounce of self control for me to not hop back on an airplane for another girls week away. I have been talking to my sisters this week and we have all been saying..."a week ago today we were this or last week at this time we were here" etc...... but I instead am being a taxi driver, nurse, maid, chef and all of that fun other stuff. Hold on a minute while I find a HUGE container for all of my joy!! Just kidding. I wouldnt have it any other way. I was thinking this week to way back when (in the time of the dinosaurs) to when I was in 5th grade. I had a teacher who asked each of us what we wanted to be when we grew up. I told him "a model or a mom". Well since I didnt get the butt or face of a super modle like Giselle. I was blessed to be a mom. Ok, back to what I was going to originally post about. I swear I think I have blogger ADD. :)

Yesterday I went to the younger boys school for an assembly. Landon and other kids were awarded for showing Honesty at some point of time this month. It was cute. They had a slideshow and a speech from the principle and that was it. Loved it that it was short and sweet!

He looks thrilled

I have also had the pleasure of making 2 trips to the Drs office and 2 equally exciting trips to Walmart for prescriptions. Hayden has strep throat and Dallin has a sinus infection. Hopefully this will be the end of all the nasty cooties at my house! I snapped the picture of Hayden at Walmart while we were waiting for our drugs. I still had my camera in my bag and I am sure I looked like a total dork taking the picture, but who cares.

Hayden taking care of his "feminine needs"

This week my lovely Kenmore front loader (Sears bites the big one!) decided to take a little vacation on me. I called Sears to come out and fix it and of course they cant come until next Thursday!! Of course they cant!! They are too dang busy fixing all of their CRAPPY appliances! Ok, I got that rant out of the way! I am sure it will cost me an arm and a leg. I told Chris that if it is going to be costly, I want a new one!! I have only had it a couple of years, and it wasnt cheap, but I have not liked it one bit! We will see what happens. Well I am off to get clothes and stuff ready for church tomorrow. Ours starts at 9:30, and me not being a very gracious early riser, needs to get as much as I can done the night before.. I just got off the phone with my sister and they are coming out for a visit with my mom in April. Yeah! I am excited. Well have a great night.

I have spent way too much time trying to get these pictures in the right place in my last post, but I cant get it. GGRRRRRRR! Her are some of the pictures from the weekend O fun!

Swap Meet Fozen bananas

Back to Life, back to reality........................

Gotta love the 80s for providing a song for every moment of life! LOL

We had so much fun this past weekend, but I am EXHAUSTED!!!!!!!! We went non stop! Good times though. This is my 8th or 9th year going and I am so lucky to have Chris here to take the days off and take over my duties! They had a great time also. They told me that they had a "multicultural" weekend, pizza one night, Indian another, Vietnamese on Saturday and yesterday they made tacos. I dont think I was missed one bit.

I will try and briefly recap all of the shopping festivities. First of all the girls that go on our yearly trip are: Julie and Laura (my sisters) Kathleen and Liz (twin sisters) and Debbie.

Kathleen keeps us in stitches the whole weekend. I think she is the funniest person in the world. This girl needs her own reality show or talk show. I have known her since I was 11 or 12 years old. She use to tell me and my sister Laura that when Aunt Flo finally came to visit us, she was going to throw us a "coming out party" We were mortified. When that day finally came, we made my mom swear that she would not tell ANYONE! We really thought she would throw a big party. Pretty funny when you look back at it.

Thursday we ate dinner at Outback, I know it is nothing fancy, but it is our tradition and then we headed to a mall. I cant remember the name of it. We went back to the hotel and hung out and visited with each other.

Friday we headed to LA to the Garment or Fashion District. I think it is also called Santee Alley. It is basically a swap meet with stores. Pretty scary really, but some of the girls picked up some fun purses and bargains. We then headed to our favorite place, Fashion Island and ate at the Cheesecake Factory, we wanted Pf Changs, but the wait was 3 hours. I dont think so. We then went to South Coast Plaza Mall for more shopping. See what I mean by go go go????

Saturday we headed to the OC Swap meet for a couple of hours. It is another one of our yearly traditions. We love to go there and eat the Frozen chocolate Bananas. So yummy. We then headed to Fashion Island and had PF Changs. We were thinking about a movie, but were way to dang tired!

Sunday was the day we were all dreading! It is always so depressing thinking that we have to go another year before our next trip. It does go by fast, but still sad. We are not allowed to remind each other about how may more days or hours we have left before we have to go home, but you cantbut help think about it.

So one of the most important things for me to do on this trip besides find me some good booty jeans was to go to Sprinkles. I was tired of hearing about how wonderful this place was so we went. We were so shocked to see how many freakin people were standing in line for these things! The line was out the door and then some! I am sorry to report, that they are not all that! They kind of tasted like normal cupcakes. I did like the Red Velvet with Creme cheese frosting. It was pretty good. I am glad that I can say I did it and got that out of my system.

Well today I stayed home and did a buttload of laundry and got right back into my motherly duties. Oh the joy!! It is good to be home and I am excited to catch up on al the blog action. have a great night!

I'm Outta here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well almost! In about 24 hours I will be leaving on a jet plane. Party! After a crazy morning like todays, I am more then ready! My body and mind need this vacation. Oh, I am sure you are asking yourselves "what is fun about going away on a girls long weekend"?! Surely it cant be the 3 lovely nights of uninterrupted sleep, or the quiet lunches and dinners without a bucket o toys and snacks in your purse to entertain your perma-lunch buddy. Or it most difinitely cant be the shopping without a honkin double stroller!---naaaaa! Dont get me wrong. I have a great life. I love my family to peices. (most of the time) LOL I am sure I will miss them and will be ready to come home by the end of it, but dang, tomorrow cant come any faster.

I have been busy doing laundry, making sure there is adequate food, diapers, and all of the necessities here so Chris wont have to worry about all of that. I am so blessed that I have such a great hubby. Each year he takes the time off of work to to be home with the kids so I can go. I am a lucky girl!

Not much else going on here. This past weekend Chris had a Klondike Derby campout with the scouts. They had a good time, it was Butt cold, but they all survived! So did I. :)

Sunday my friend Josie and her cute family came to visit. Josie is the sister to Ali (on my sidebar). Ali use to Bbsit for me way back when. Now they are both moms, and we are all good friends. Since I am not quite old enough to be thier mom, they have always been nice enough to say that I am like thier "big sister".

Well I am off to clean up after the morning hurricane. Good times, good times!

IN SEARCH OF..........................................................................

I am in search of the "perfect" jeans. If anyone knows me out there, I have been on the prowl for sometime now for a great pair of jeans. These jeans that I am trying to find, have a BIG job to perform!! I am trying to find a pair that make my Butt look somewhat decent. HHHMMMM! I know that is almost impossible, it will take a miracle really, but I am sure that one pair out there might come close.

I LOVE jeans. I wear them everyday. I am obsessed with jeans. It is crazy. I have tried on some of the "high end" jeans and I think that I must have a little too much Badunkadunk in the southern half of my body to make them not fit quite right. I have found a pair that I do rather enjoy and that is the Hipster from American Eagle. They are low enough to go under my fat roll and not right in the middle of it. You know, the "Muffin top" that we all know and love.

So, I would love to hear your opinions, and recommendations on your favorite jeans. This is really and lame post, but I need help!

Ok, I also ned to clarify something on my "new Do". All I did is get a cut and added some dimension the the color. You probably have to look really hard to notice it too much, but it still feels good to have something new done. Nothing too exciting that is worth taking a picture of. You know how I hate to have my picture taken anyway :) Ok girls, you all have a job to do. Find me a jean that will give me an "apple bottom" to wear with my boots with da furrrrrrrrrrrr! ..... Love that song..... Have a great night!

I HATE TECHNOLOGY!!!

I am so not like Kip---I do not love technology! Well maybe I do, but only when it is working!

I have been sitting on my cell phone making calls trying to get my DSL to work. If the phone jack is plugged in then the computer is not working and vise versa! As you can see, I would rather have my computer working then my phone. :) Who wouldnt?! I told my husband that I NEEEEEEEDDDDD my computer to work or I will shrivel up and die! Well maybe I wouldnt mind the shriveling up part. HEEHEE

Today I went and got my hair cut and a little PIZZAAZZ put into the color. I havent had a ny color stuff done to it in eons!!! I am hoping that it makes me look FIERCE AND FABULOUS! Probably not, but you cant blame a girl for trying. Thanks to Holly for watching Hayden and LaLa for 2+ hours. She told me that La La was all over the place and into everything! UH! really??? Welcome to my life :)
I am getting all primped up for my girls trip coming up. So excited! I am going to most of you girls stomping grounds. We will be staying in the Irvine, Oc area. We do the usual mall circuit and eat a ton. If there is anything else that you feel we should not go with out trying or doing let me know!!

Well I have a huge headache from you know where and I have been neglecting my sweet kiddies since we got home. Have a great day!

So I thought today I would follow in Michelles foot steps and document that I am going to stay home and CLEAN MY HOUSE! I have a ton of laundry to fold, floors to clean and toilets to scrub. I usually like to be out and about at this time of the day running errands or whatever because all of the kids are in school except for 2. I am having a hard time getting anything done thanks to Lawson. He is following me and messing up all of my piles of clothes. I think he is letting me know that he would rather be out partying and spending daddys money instead of doing this crap! DITTO little man DITTO!

Great, now I have 2 little cling-ons. Dora the Explorer must be over. :)

Yesterday I was able to hear some great talks and lessons. My calling is the ward librarian. I always thought of it as an "old lady calling", but dang I love it! I love it for many reasons. I am able to chit chat when I am not "swamped". I am still able to attend RS. I also love it because I get to quietly read some of the great lesson books and other materials in there.

Yesterday I was reading out of the Gospel Principles Book. It was in the chapter about Eternal Families that this paragraph popped out at me:

The first family on earth was established by our Heavenly Father when he gave Eve to Adam in marriage (see Moses 3:21–24). Since then, each of us has been commanded to marry and have children so that through our own experience we can learn to be heavenly parents. President Brigham Young explained that our families are not yet ours. The Lord has committed them to us to see how we will treat them. Only if we are faithful will they be given to us forever. What we do on earth determines whether or not we will be worthy to become heavenly parents".

This struck me I think because every day I go to bed so mad at myself for how I handle certain situations with my children. I lose my patience so easily with them sometimes. I also see that it has rubbed off on how they treat each other. I dont want them to get all snippy with their kids. I want them to show love and patience with them. I have to wonder if the Lord is happy with me and how I am treating his sweet children. I am not saying I beat them or go all psycho on them but I can be a yeller and I hate that! I have 6 sweet loving boys thatI am trying to raise to be rightous loving husbands and fathers, and worthy preisthood holders--No pressure!

We have been doing well on the FHE and trying to keep having our daily family prayers. I think that as long as we are trying to do these things at a consistant pace even if it is a slow one, we will be blessed.

Well I am sorry for all of my babble. I just wanted to document that I actually do read other things then my weekly tabloids and that I actually do listen to the talks and lessons :)

Well I am off to attempt to fold my clothes again. Then I can say that I actually did something productive today. :) Have a great day!

BLOGERATZI!!!

That is my lame attempt at being clever at titling my post. I LOVE stalking blogs. I really do. I think what I love to do most is search blogs and try to find people I know. I grew up in Vegas (way back when there were only like 7 or so High Schools, 2 malls, seriously only 3 or 4 Targets. ) You get my point. I like to think that it is still the same way and I will run into somebody I know. Doesnt happen. I dont think that there a lot of people from the Dino Ages that still live there. Sad.

I did notice a few things through my blog trespassing-- there are a TON of pregnant people out there! What is going on??? Well, obviously we know what is going on (wink wink)! There are a lot of people out there gettin busy. I am just kidding. I guess that since the Smith baby factory is shutting down ( Chris' wishes, not mine) I get a little weepy seeing all the little baby tickers (sniff sniff) Ok, I am obviously typing this when the baby is napping and all is quiet around here because if it was the usual loud chaos, I would be the first one to say "I am done"! LOL

I also noticed that there are so many cute blog backgrounds and fun colors. Where is everyone getting them? How do you do it? My blog could use some sprucing up!

Well I guess I should end my spying. It is really so fun. I was up until 1 last night lurking. I guess I would assume that maybe other people have checked out my blog-maybe not. I know I dont mind it, in fact I love it. I love meeting new people through blogging. so if there is somebody our there that reads my blog--come out of the closet!

Ok, I will shut my pie hole now. I need to go scrounge up something for dinner. I cook all dang week and when the weekend comes, it is so hard to want to cook. It is rainy outside and gloomy. I am in my pjs still and I have eaten a doughnut, Diet Coke, turkey sausage and cookies today. It is no wonder that my thighs are starting to get too friendly with each other. Have a great weekend!

"THE HURRICANE" part 2


Dont let this sweet face fool you! This kid is going to drive me insane! He is a Tsunami of distruction wherever he goes lately! Hayden was the same way. He would color all over my walls, tables and anywhere he could find. It was never the "washable" markers either, I was lucky enough to have him use Sharpies as his choice of medium. He could also twist off lids and therefore empty its contents all over by 1 years old and was climbing out of his crib before that. OUY VEY!!

I snapped this picture of LaLa kindly emptying out my drawer of cards. As I was cleaning up this mess, he was dropping some pencils down my air vents. As aaI am typing this he is walking around with a golf club in one hand and a broom in the other. Crazy kid.

I must have done something during my last 2 pregnancies to make Hayden and Lawson be born without the "dont make mom want to rip her hair out" gene. Oh well this cute little stinker sleeps until 10:30 every morning. I guess you cant have everything right??

IS THIS BAD???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


This is the pile of my tabloids that I had cleaned off my nightstand the other day! You cant tell from the pictures, but there are at least 30. It made me feel guilty for about a minute and then I was off to the store to load back up!! I should really read more church oriented materials, but DANG these are so enjoyable! Who doesnt get thier jollies from reading about all of the Hollywood dysfunction?????

I had a great weekend. It was a slow week. Dallin has miss this whole week of school. He has had the same crud that Chris had the week before. Poor guy. He pretty much was on the couch all week. Dont worry, the Lysol has already done its job!

Valentines Day was good. I had lunch with my VTers and Christine, that is always fun. Since Valentines Day is on a weekday and I knew we had a few social activities to attend this weekend, Chris and I just hung out with the kids. We had ribs, potatoes and Broccoli with cheese for dinner and Ice cream for dessert. My wonderful parents sent us some money to take the kids for ice cream for a Valentine treat. Since time was short Landon and I went to the store and loaded up with all sorts of fun ice cream toppings and came home a made our own sundaes. Who needs Cold Stone??? They loved it. Chris brought me home a pretty flowery plant bouquet for my kitchen window. Very nice. All in all a great day.

Friday we went to a Valentines party at the Jorgensens in our ward. So fun. Good grub, a chocolate fountain and karaoke! What more could you ask for? Oh! and it was adults only. Even better:) They had a karaoke type machine and it wasnt as good as Singstar, but that didnt stop me from butchering a few songs. One of the songs I sang to was Livin Lavida Loca. I scored a 90! When we got home, Chris told me a killed the song--and not in a good way. Dang, there goes my singing career! I guess I will have to go into stripping after all....


Today we just did stuff at home, and took all of the kids to Costco. We are always the "freak show" when we go there. Cracks me up watching peoples faces, especially when we are all getting out of the car. It is almost like those clowns all getting out of the VW. We just keep on coming! Tonight we went to a ward dinner/dance. It was actually alot of fun ( for all those slackers in my ward that are reading this) The food was super yummy and it was fun getting to know new people.

Well I need to got and challenge Chris at Guitar Hero, or should I call him "Gunshow" (that is his GH nickname) . Oh and While I was typing this and under the care of his father, Lawson just ate some of his POO! Gross! I hope that isnt bad for him!! I am officially grossed out. Have a great weekend!

GUNG HAY FAT CHOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Or should I say Gung Hay Fat Linda. This is the feast that Holly and I cooked to celebrate Chinese New Year. It should be the Year of the pig, not the rat because we PIGGED OUT. Good grub for sure! We had oodles of noodles with beef and broccoli, we made Won tons and fried shrimp chips, rice and I made a yummy chocolate cake for dessert. My fat rolls were gettin busy for sure! After eating we all played Guitar Hero. I think we hooked the Cranes. I am seriously addicted to it. I have even mastered a few songs also. Good times! Ok, I hear Chris in there right now playing Rock You Like a Hurricane. I feel a competition brewing.!!

I have way more to blog about or should I say rant about, but I have a headache from Hell and I hear some Advil, my boyfriends Ben and Jerry and AI calling my name. Have a great night!

R.I.P TRANSFORMERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


UUUUGGG! Where do I begin? These have been the death of me since Christmas Day. I am tired of picking up little pieces of car parts, being asked by a certain 3 year old to "fix this" who cant make up his mind to have it a car or a flippin robot! They are NOT EASY to put back together either. I would love to meet the person (I am sure it was a man) who invented these.

Am I the only loser with this issue?

Ok, I will move on. I have been running around like a crazed maniac this whole week. My son has been trying out this week for the HS Golf team. I have to run and pick him up from school and seriously take him all over town to the different golf courses around here. They are all up on these windy hills also. I will be glad when this week is up!
Chris was home sick from work on Monday and Tuesday and then Bowen was sick yesterday. I also had Lawson in to the Drs on Monday for his yearly check up and shots. I am behind on shots so we are playing catch up. I also had them give him a Flu shot, only to have that give him a fever and a serious case of whiny babyitis. Yee haw he is back to his usual clingy self today. :)

Well not much else going on here. I need to head off to go get boy #2 from school. Good times! Oh! on one good note, I made my plane reservations for my girls trip next month. Hold on and listen right now for a big Hallelujah from here in N. Cali.!!!! I am so excited.

Ok, I am off to be Chauffer Joe now............

This is for my sister. She gave me crap about Lawsons toe picture in my last post. SHe told me that it looked like he had toe jam in between his toes and that his little to nails looked funky. I can assure you that his toes were clean and there was no creepy crud growing on his feet. Well how does his foot look now???? I spruced it up for you Julie. He was so cute when I did it. He kept looking at his feet all day.

This weekend was kind of a bummer. Chris was sick ALL WEEKEND... I mean on the couch dead to the world, hackin up all kinds of unmentionable things. Lets just say that I have had the Lysol Spray working on overtime at my house. Friday we did get away with Holly and Mike for a quick dinner. We had alot of fun and I got to sneak away last night for a GNO. My friend Maressa is having a baby soon and didnt want a shower so a bunch of us met for dinner at Cheescake and then saw 27 Dresses. We had a great time. If I were a good wife and mother I should have stayed at home and held down the fort, but I have been excited all week to get out with the girls and have some fun, so I abandoned the sick house. I think the boys ended up fending for themselves as Chris was in a Nyquil induced coma. I came home to a house that was still standing and 6 kids so all was well :) Well I hope everyone had a great weekend. I did get to watch Predident Hinckleys Funeral and I was so touched by all of the great stories and memories that were shared. He was such a great man!

Oh today we were suppose to get together with the Cranes for Superbowl festivities, but with all of the cooties in my house we just stayed home and I ended up making pizzas with the kids. They were pretty good. Usually Chris is the pizza maker, but the duty was mine today. Here is a picture of the mini ones the kids made. Heres to a better week.............................................

**************TOE UPDATE*************************

So here is a picture of that nasty little toe. It is looking so much better. It looks like I wont be needing to whip out the weedwacker after all!:):):) I am still waiting for that Mother of the Year award to come. Oh and Shannon, I do vaccuum Miss Smarty Pants:)



So supposedly there is an official longest day of the year I think sometime in June, but I beg to differ!
I think that I had mine last night for sure!! It was the day from hell if you dont mind me saying. First of all I went to Costco and absolutley stuffed the hole in my face with a tasty hot dog AND all of the yummy samples. It must be because it is Super Bowl Weekend because they were sampling all sorts of stuff, like meatballs, chips and salsa, mozzarella sticks, pizza. MMMMM, so good. That was a good part of my day.

It all started in a downward spiral around 3. That is when I start picking up the little darlings. It must be from the stresses of the school day, but they always start right into arguing over seats and who is going to do Guitar Hero first, yackety yackety. Drives me nuts! After picking them all up I came home and started making dinner. I made Beef Barley stew. Not a hard dinner to make, but a little time consuming. I then had to help "encourage" all four of them into getting their homework done. It always ends up with me counting or yelling, threatening or something else to get them going. Some of them needed help and it is always at the same time. On top of that I am cooking dinner and entertaining a 1 and 3 year old. Good times. Wednesdays are also hard because Chris has Scouts and the 2 older boys have scouts and YM at different locations. Crazy. I am sure that I am not the only one who has these wonderful days, but it is these days that I feel like a total loser of a parent. I did start off today with a family prayer with the boys. I do try to do this regularly, but I forget many times. Today has been a better day, and it will only get better with Lost starting up tonight :) I hope I didnt depress anyone with my Debbie Downer post. Well I am off to start dinner and give a spelling test to Landon. Let the fun begin!

MORE DRAMA!!!!

If you are all wondering where to send the "MOTHER OF THE YEAR" award, that would be right here! I dont know if you can tell from this picture or not, but this is my poor little Lawsons foot. We gave him his bath last night and as I was putting on his pjs I saw this and almost passed out. One of his toes and part of the next one had hair wrapped tightly around his toes. I mean TIGHT! It was cutting off the circulation and all nasty looking. I pulled off the hair from what I could tell. It was so hard to see for sure, because it was so dang swollen.
After we decided we got it all, we soaked it to see if the swelling went down. We were trying to decide if we should take him to the Drs or not. It went down a little and it looks slightly better today. We will see how it is in the morning.

Has anyone ever had that happen before?? They say that with little boys you need to be careful to make sure that hair doesnt get tightly wrapped around their peepee, but i never heard about their toes.

I still have cooties going on here. Landon is not feeling too good. He stayed home "sick" earlier this week. I think he is not faking this one. Looks like the start to another fabulous week :(

I am sure all of you heard about the passing of President Hinkley. It is very sad, but I am so happy that he is finally back with his sweet eternal companion. :)

We bought Guitar Hero 3 this weekend. Dang it is hard. I am not feeling as cocky about this game as I do with Singstar. Iam getting skooled by the boys .......... Have a great night!

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It has been raining ALL DAY LONG here today. I do love the rain, but not all day. It is a little depressing. My days this week have consisted of ear infections, THE NASTIEST poopy diapers ever known to man kind, boogar noses, stomach aches, a few sleepless nights, laundry up the wazoo, and the list goes on. Did you notice not one thing on this list consisted of me having lunch with my friends??? NOOOOOOOO! I know that sounds shallow, but I really do enjoy social interaction during the week. It is great to sit and chit chat and vent with the girls. I did get a quick bite to eat at the Walmart Mcds with Holly. Jealous???????

POOR BABY........ This picture pretty much summed up my day today. I didnt even get dressed until I had to go pick up the other kids. I snapped this picture of my little clingon this morning. Notice the sexy leg in the picture?? That would be me and my manly pajama pants. I dont see how my man can leave all that every morning! LOL

Tonight I did get to escape to eat with Chris. We grabbed a quick bite at Tomatina and then to the grocery store. We came home and watched Bourne Ultimatum. Well I am off to do a load of smelly Pjs. I dont think that there is a diaper out there that can stand up to Lawson diarrhea. too much info I know.

This weekend is our Stake Conf. I really want to go to the adult broadcast tomorrow. We will see how the troups are feeling. Hope you have a great weekend!

"I WISH I COULD QUIT YOU!"


I told Chris that I was going to do a "Brokeback Mountain" post about his Mans Golf weekend. LOL


This past weekend Chris and some of his friends went to Oregon to golf. Who does that??? I thought it was a little wacky to drive 8 freakin hours to go golfing. I certainly wouldnt drive 8 hours to go to "the best mall" . Well maybe I would. :)) Supposedly it is "one of the better" Golf courses, yadda yadda yadda. He had a great time and luckily my SIL came to keep me company.

Chris deserved his weekend o' fun and next month it is my turn. It is almost time for my yearly girls weekend to the OC. I am so excited. Last year, I was not able to go.
Lawson was only a couple of months old and I couldnt leave my sweet man with a new baby and
all of the boys. But this year.... Hasta La Vista baby!!!!!! Did I mention how excited I
was????

Well my moment of peace has once again come to an end. Lawson has a double ear infection and is very clingy. I also had a couple other boys home sick today. Hopefully I can avoid all of these cooties and not get sick. I am rarely sick. It must be all of the junk food I eat right??? A pound of chocolate a day keeps the Dr away! I wanted to post pictures of my crazy long weekend with the 11 kiddies, but I couldnt get them downloaded. We had a fun weekend and I will post about all of our adventures later. Have a great night..

We are all still alive here. I will have a better update of our adventures, or lack thereof later.

I just wanted to type this cute little comment that I overheard Hayden saying to his cousin. They are sitting here playing cars together and Hayden got up and said he was going to "turn off the sky" as he was shutting the shutters. Too cute.

I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend. I am taking advantage of this quiet moment (babies sleeping and older kids at park) to catch up on blogs. :):)

Is it really Friday already???

This week has sure flown by. I am home today cleaning up my house. I usually try to go somewhere everyday when most of my kids are in school. That way I am not so stir crazy being home with my precious children ALL AFTERNOON! LOL I also find it easier being out and about during the day with Lawson. That little guy follows me everywhere. I cant even escape to the Porcelain Palace without him crying at the door! I can honestly say that I am followed around my men all day long.

Today I am home for the sole purpose of cleaning my house. What I am about to tell you right now might make you extremely jealous of me . My SIL is coming for the long weekend with her 5 children!!! I know, for sure you all want to be me right now. I am going to have a house of 11 children. Good times! No, it should be fun. We get along really well and so do the kids. It will be just like a zoo. If it gets too wild, we will just lock them all up in rooms and go out for a Girls Night Out. HEEHEE. Just kidding.

Well the dust is calling my name so I better stay on track. Have a good weekend and I will try to keep you up to day on all of the crazy mayhem, I am sure you will be waiting on pins and needles.

Oh, and this cute little bugger is walking. He looks like a penguin, so dang cute! (Picture above) I would take a better picture of him, but Chris has my camera. Oh, I will for sure be posting about that subject later!!! :)

*****GOOD TIP ALERT*******

Yes, even I every once in awhile have a good find or tip that I will share. I found a great website for baby undershirts. It is so hard to find the long sleeve Onesies around here. I love them. I put one under Lawsons short sleeve shirts, so that he can still wear them during the winter.

The website is www.Essentialwhites.com . I just got them today and they are so nice. They are almost like the material of the Layers or Shades Tshirts. They even sent them wrapped in tissue with a scented sachet. They are a little pricey, but worth it.

Ok I am off to go do my daily reffereeing............

SUNDAY AT THE NUTFARM

I just wanted to share a quick little story about my crazy Sunday. It has been a little crazy here at our house lately. I am entering the fun and most delightful teenage years. I can hardly wait! My sweet 14 year old has been a little moody and just flat out not very nice to be around at times. This morning started out in the pits. I always try to be on top on things, trying to get all of the clothes and such ready for church the night before. You know, because "Saturday is a special day" I think that whoever wrote that song needs to be shot. (just kidding). I would hardly call it special when it comes to getting all of the Sunday biz done. Long story short, it was nonstop fighting and yelling and trying to get everyone out the door at a reasonable time. Not an easy task! I went to church totally crabby and ready to mow down anyone in my path.

Of course all of the church talks and lessons were great and got me back into the frame of mind that I needed to be in. I love that. I came home refreshed and then tried to mend all of the chaos that I had contributed to in the morning. I read in the Spencer W Kimball book from last year that we need to make sure that we are on top of everything on Sunday mornings. It is so important to be ready on time and make things run a smooth as possible so that we can be at church on time to listen to the preludes and feel the spirit. I am going to try and get my big rump out of bed earlier on Sundays so that I can be ready early and be more available to get my kids going and to be ready for all of the roadbumps.

Now that I have run off on another subject I will get back to my "quick" little story. After dinner we decided to play Monopoly. We got the new electronic version for the kids for Christmas. It is the more pimped up version of Monopoly. So fun. My money was quickly running dry and my sweet little BoBo (who was kicking everyones trash at the time) offered to pay one of my debts. Isnt that sweet??? I didnt even ask. It made me think that even though I was running around like a screaming Banshee this morning, and feeling really bad about how I had contributed to everyones crappy mood, that my kids still love their mom, even when she is not at her best (or even near it). I have awesome boys even when they are sassy and somtimes make me want to turn to the "hardstuff". You know, chocolate. They keep me on my toes and I am so thankful for them.

Hope I didnt send anyone into a permanent coma from boredom. Have a great week.

*****INSPIRED*******


I have been in a blogging rut for a few days. I have not had a whole lot to say-(shocking for some people to comprehend!) I have not had anything too exciting to blog about. Life has been boring at the Smith houshold. I shouldnt say boring, but lets just say, noneventful.

I have been loving this time of the new year. It is wonderful to read about everyones resolutions, goals, diet plans, organizational tips, spiritual, physical and mental overhauls. I am in need of all of these! I have not even let my brain entertain any of these ideas for myself yet. Trust me, I will, I just havent been motivated to do so.

I have been so inspired and moved by everyones blogs. I am in awe of so many of you fabulous women. You inspire me try to be a better wife, mother, cook, friend etc... Believe me I am a constant work in progress.....

I am approaching my 1 year anniversary of entering the blogging world, and have enjoyed every minute of it. I dont know where I would be without blogging! It is where I turn to vent out my stress, and frustrations of being a blessed mother of 6 little men. Oh, I know what I should be doing--I should be cleaning a toilet, doing laundry and not neglecting my little man who is upstairs getting into who knows what. :0

Well I better get going and pick up a bit before my sweet hubby gets home. I told him he needed to take me on a HOT date tonight. I told him that he had to work for the milk and he just cant get it from the cow for free.! LOL He quickly told me that I was hardly FREE. Funny guy. Wait, did I really compare myself to a cow????? I guess so. Well I hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Tired!

I was reading Michelles blog earlier and I couldnt have said it better. I AM TIRED!! I am having a hard time getting back into the swing of things. I have a GINORMOUS pile of laundry to be folded and put away, my house is a stye and I still have my Christmas crud outside and piled high in the garage to be stored away. I am tired of have NO WILLPOWER WHATSOEVER, when it comes to shoveling food in my mouth. My hand is like the Energizer Bunny--It keeps going and going and going to my mouth! I have bags under my eyes and I feel puffy. I am sure that the pound bag of Peanut M&Ms I ate this week didnt help any.

On a happier note, I was able to get to lunch with some of my friends today. It was a last minute "hey, lets go celebrate back to school" and it was much needed. I am no DR, but I am sure that the 4-5 Diet Cokes I downed at lunch are contributing to my lack of energy tonight. I am probably coming off my caffeine "high".

Well I am off to do my nightly business. This mountain of clothes is not going to fold itself! Chris took the kids to his Basketball game tonight so I am just hanging out with my 2 little boyfriends.
Good times. Have a great night...............

I am back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah! It is good to be home. This picture to the right is only a fraction of the crap that is awaiting to be put away. We got home last night and I immediately go into psycho mode and try to have all of the suitcases unpacked and things put away. Today, even though it is Sunday, I am trying to get my Christmas things put away so that I can get my house is some order before all of the mayhem starts tomorrow.

We had a fun trip. We didnt do to many exciting things. We hung out with family, cruised the strip, shopped, saw movies, went four wheeling and stuff like that. It was fun to visit with family. We stayed with my parents and I am almost positive that they did the happy dance as we pulled away. I think that my kids are pretty well behaved for the most part, but lets face it- they are boys! They dont sit and play dollies and color. They wrestle, jump around, and are kind of loud. My parents are use to having a quiet house, so several times they headed to their "happy place" to escape the chaos. What can you do?

I am so bummed. My cameras batteries died a few days into our trip and dumb me didnt bring the charger. I missed alot of great photo moments.

Well I am excited to be back and to get back to blogging. I missed it! I thought that I would be able to do some while on my trip, but it didnt work out. I had Chris' laptop and I hate using those. I am only skilled at using one of his laptops! LOL

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. Only 12 more hours till school starts-------------------Yeah!!!!

One more thing. While I was in Vegas, I helped my sister start up her blog- Yes, she actually needed help. She is my much older sister Julie. HEHEHE. She has been a blogger stalker to many of you for a long time and now she is coming out of the closet. I will put her on my sidebar. I am sure she would love it if you stopped by to say hi!

I will put a few more pictures from our trip up.

I had to kick my kids off of the computer for a minute to type this. They have anxiously been tracking Santas every step on Norad. It is tto cute. I am surprised that almost ALL of them are happily tracking. :)

We are knee deep in preparing our Big Christmas Eve meal, I am even attempting homemade rolls! They are a freakin gooey mess, but we will see how well they turn out. We are also making Gingerbread houses and just hanging out together. There have been no fighting or name calling! I guess the day is still young.

We will be heading to Vegas this week and we are excited to see our families. It has been since April that we have seen most of them. I hope everyone has a great Christmas and New year. This isnt goodbye. You cant get rid of me that easily. When I am gone I am going to be checking blogs regularly. Like I said before, there is not a whole lot to do in Vegas. Maybe I will take up gambling or stripping afterall. That would be a hoot. I think that people would pay me to NOT take off my clothes!! That was bad I know.

Well I better get going. I am being attacked by my Santa Stalkers!

I hope everyone enjoys being with their loved ones at this special time of the year.

Yippeeeeeee!

I finally get some alone time. Chris took the boys out to deliver some Pixie stuff to some people and I am home getting ready to go to a party.

I think I can say that I am done with my shopping!!! I am done physically and I am done mentally with all of this craziness. Now I can just relax and enjoy! I am even done with my baking. I kind of had a case of schitsophrenia(sp) of the goodie making. I first started out making sugar cookies. I made the dough and baked half of the cookies only to get bored with them. I then moved on to Hot Fudge Sauce. Then yesterday I made Rolo Cookies. OH! MY! GOSH! They are to die for. If you havent made them, you need to. I even got the "these are the best" from my man. Today I made Resees PB Cup cookies. Another good one. I am getting an even bigger lard butt from all of the taste testing, not to mention all of the fabulous plates of stuff from friends. Who knows what I will move on to next.

My kids are getting excited to go to Vegas after Christmas. They are excited to see their cousins and Grandparents. Good times. I am excited also, but if you know Vegas, there is not a whole lot to do. Especially if you are not into Gambling, Vegas Shows or Stripper Poles! LOL I am from Vegas so I am allowed to say that. If any of you Vegas girls have any good family activitiy ideas, I would love to hear them.

I have had a pretty mellow week. I have even been able to have 2 lunches with friends this week. I am so lucky. Tomorrow, I am hoping to get some VT done and that is it. It is also a minimum school day tomorrow-------AWWWWWWWWW bummer! There are too many of those! Is it not bad enough that I have to entertain them for 2 weeks???????? :)

Well I am off to party. I want to thank all of you creative girls for giving me such fun ideas this holiday season. I have had a blast trying new recipes and fun activities with my boys. I am so impressed by everyones creativity. Something that I severely lack!!!! Have a great night!!!

I just finished watching The Notebook for the first time. Can I just say that I LOVED that movie! It was so sweet. I even made Chris watch it with me. He would never admit it, but I know he liked it........I was fighting back the tears at the end, such a great story.

Is it over yet???????????????????

I hate to say this, but I am ready for this whole Christmas crap to be over with!!

Dont get me wrong, I love the holidays for the most part, but the traffic, long lines and rude people are not bringing out the best in me. Today Holly and I ran to the mall and I think I seriously was scaring her with all of my "road rage", or should I say "people rage". Every moron in the world was out and about today. It is even rubbing off on my sweet man. Tonight Chris and I dropped the kiddies off at home after Judsons school program and ran some errands. Some girl and her boyfreind cut us off and then decided to go really slow in front of us trying to bug us. Chris sometimes follows a little too close for my comfort and she suddenly stops in front of us. Again trying to tick us off I am sure. We just kind of rolled our eyes at them. Whatever!

I have been oober busy this week. I feel like Betty Crocker on speed. I have made homemade Hot fudge sauce, cookies, and even those cute Cinnamon ornaments Rachel had posted on her blog.
My boys and I had a great time making them. I HIGHLY recommend making them if you get the time. They make your house smell awesome! It even covered up the dirty diaper smell in my house! I would just suggest that you exercise a little more common sense then I did and spray the pan before you put them on to bake---DUH! I think that only 2 of the ornaments survived the slaughter of me trying to get them off of the pan. But good fun anyway.

I am so trying not to gain a ton of weight this season. It is so dang hard! My cute little size 0 freind Maressa has been trying out new yummy brownie bar recipes from her new cookbook. Even though I LOVE being the taste tester, I keep teasing her that she has to pay for me to go to WW or Jenny Craig or something. Man she can bake! We have also been dropped off some fabulous goodies from friends. I just need to learn when to shut my pie hole is all.

Well it is late and if you can believe it my kids even just went to bed. Chris and I got home late from shopping and we just let the kids hang out for a while. This is a very rare occasion, for sure! They are usually in bed right at bed time, earlier if I can help it!! LOL

Hope eveyone has a great weekend!

PS I took a picture of my kids after church last week. Hopefully my picture of my little hooligans will distract from my Debby Downer post!

PSS I love my tree. It isnt all fancy shmancy and that is fine with me. My kids decorate it every year and it is filled with fun ornaments that the kids have made over the years. Great memories.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOLLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Today is Hollys birthday. I wont say how old she is, because that would tell how old I am also. We wouldnt want that.

I met Holly 11 years ago, when we first moved out here from Vegas. We didnt know anyone and she was one of the first people we met. I think we became instant friends and the rest is history!

Holly is a great person. She is willing to serve and is always there for you.
We have a lot of fun and our kids love each other. They are almost like brothers and sister. Poor Tyler is the only girl out of them all.

Here are a few things about Holly:

She is very organized and is always thinking ahead.
Shes crafty - sewing, stamping etccccc......
She throws a mean party and always has lots of yummy food.
She is a great mother
She is a wonderful friend
She plays the violin ( just kidding, she plays the flute) I always confuse the 2 (duh)
She loves to travel
She loves Law and Order--DUNDUN (Law and Order sound)
She loves the theatre
Is the family "handy man"
Completed a "Half Marathon" (running-eeeewwwww!)

I could go on and on........

Hope you have a great Birthday Holly. Thanks for being a great friend and for becomming friends with a weirdo from Vegas. Love ya!

One year older and wiser too- Happy Birthday- to you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OUR CHRISTMAS TREE


TWINKLING LIGHTS

THE SMELL OF EVERGREEN FILLING THE AIR

DECORATIVE ORNAMENTS ADORNING THE TREE

SHINING STAR UP HIGH

PRETTY PACKAGES TO BE UNWRAPPED

AND.....................................................................................................................................................





A GUN???????????????????????????????????????????????????????

This is what I found last night when I came to turn on the tree lights last night. Only in a house full of boys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I am late at doing this, but technically it is still her Bday. It is my sister Lauras birthday today. She is 13 months younger then me. I know these are funky pictures, but they are all that I have. I wish I had some of us when we were younger, but they are all back in Vegas. She will kill me for some of the choices I made, but seriously it was slim pickins!

Laura and I were best friends growing up. We did everything together. We had the same friends, and went together seriously EVERYWHERE. We even would babysit together. We would babysit together and split the pay. We got ripped off for sure. We would usually only charge a dollar and hour and split it!!!! Crazy! We were not very smart business girls. :)

I was very shy growing up. I usually drove everywhere and if we were going through a drive thru for food, I would make her talk into the speaker. Is that dumb or what? We loved going to the dances together, loved shopping and we hung out in HS.
We had a great childhood. Laura lives in AZ now with her family, so we dont get to see each other very much. We usually try to hook up in Vegas during Summer breaks or Christmas breaks so we can have the kids see each other, but we try to talk on the phone alot. We call each other and talk about some 80s song that we heard on the radio or just random stuff like that. Good time, good times!

None of my sisters are bloggers-yet. I am working on my other sister Julie. She is a blogger stalker. I think during Christmas break I will set her up. What, like its hard??? I am not sure if Laura will read this or not, but I hope you had a great day! Love ya!

You know your old when your kids dont want to enjoy your favorite Christmas show with you. Santa Claus is Coming to Town was on tonight and I had a wonderful flashback to my childhood. I use to love all of those old cartoon Christmas shows. (Yes they had TVs WAAAAYYY back then!)
I yelled for them to come in and watch with me and I got dissed by some dumb Toontown computer game they are addicted to. Oh well.

Today was kind of a crazy day. Hayden had speech and then we headed to Target. That always perks me up. Rachel, no long lines here, fast and speedy checkout--Priceless. I then went to pick up the kids, take Bowen to the eye DR, Dallin to Golf lessons, and home to make a fabulous double batch of Stroganoff Hamburger Helper. I know, I know, you are all jealous of my culinary talents. I did add a veggie and some yummy bread to spruce it up a bit. Chris, Dallin and Bowen headed to YM and scouts and I had the younger 4. I folded a mountain of clothes, yelled and threatened quit a bit, got them to bed, did dishes and here I am.

Tomorrow-who knows what that will bring. Not much as of right now. I am starting to panic at all of the things that I have on my list to do. I need to get teachers gifts put together, neighbor gifts made and it goes on and on........

Well I am off to clean up a bit. I dont know why I bother since the second they all get up in the morning it looks like a battle zone. Have a great night!!

It is actually tomorrow, the 3rd, but whose counting.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAWSON!!!!!!!!!!
Today is Lawsons Birthday. I cant believe how fast this year has flown by. Lawson is such a great baby. He is so happy nad content and just goes with the flow. I guess when you are are the "caboose" of 6 boys you have to be. Chris always calls him the caboose. I have not come to terms with the word "caboose" just yet. It makes me sad. Here are just a few pictures of him.

I still have not been able to figure out how to label each picture. How hard is it?? I dont know why I cant get it right. Anyway, the first picture is of me about a week before having him. Dont I look SOOO thrilled??? I think the rest speak for themselves, the token hospital picture, the "coming home picture and of course just him looking cute.

Not sure what is going on for his b-day. I am not one to go all out for a 1 year olds party. Like he is going to remember anything.
Hope everyone enjoyed thier weekend!!!!!!!!