OH MY GOSH!!!!! This is the 3rd feakin time I have tried to post this. It keeps on deleting what I have written. I am going to go bazzzzerk on this computer!!!! Here it goes again!!!!!

I am back!!!
We just got back from our long camping weekend. We go every year to a campground off the coast called Gualala. It is so beautiful there!! We go every year with a HUGE group from our old ward. We had a great time. The kids were off doing their thing the whole time and we were able to catch up with old friends that we havent seen in awhile.
The group that we go with totally pimp out their campsite. It has a microwave, hot running water, a refrigerator, Otis Spunkmeyer oven for the oodles of cookie dough they bring up and a nacho machine that goes 24/7! We eat good! Our menu usually consists of ribs, turkey, abalone fresh from the ocean and tons and tons of snacks and goodies. Lets just say that my diet totally went to hell in a handbasket this weekend. That is ok, my fat rolls were getting lonely.

It is great to be back in my nice warm bed and away from those pesky mosquitos. My kids have quite a few bites, but I managed to only get 1 or 2. I guess my blood isnt good enough for them. :) I have been doing a ton of dirty, campfire smelling laundry. I think I have done at least 9 loads so far. It is so gross.

Well I had better get back to my BFF, the washing machine. I also need to catch up on my blogging. I am sure that someone is knocked up or something exciting has happened out there! :) Have a great day..

HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY BOWEN!!!!!!!!!!!!


Today is my sweet BoBos birthday. It is such an exciting year for Bowen. He entered the 6th grade this year. Tonight he went to his last 11 year old scout meeting and will officially be in the YM program. I cant believe it. He will also get to go to scout camp this summer. Bowen will also receive the priesthood. I am so proud of him and the choices he has made.

Here are 12 things about Bowen

1. He is a very loving brother.
2. He is quite the jokester and loves to make you laugh.
3. He gets "asked out" all the time by those trampy 6th grade girls. LOL
4. He was only 5 weeks old when we made our journey out here to CA
5. He is great at pretty much every sport he plays.
6. He LOVES to weasel out of his chores and homework.
7. Spends about 20 minutes in the morning on his hair--UUUGG
8. Is kind to everyone.
9 Very loving and always makes sure he tells us he loves us before he goes to b ed.
10. Has lots of friends and is very social--a little too social, his teacher told us at open house the other night. :)
11. Very competative.
12. Is the family peacemaker.

I love this kid so much and I am so happy to be his mom. He has his moments where you want to bust his chops, but for the most part he is a great boy.

Happy Birthday Babalooo......................we love you!

Today we are taking him and some friends to go see Indiana Jones. When he found out it was coming out on his bday he was so excited so we are going to fight the mobs and hopefully it will meet everyones expectations.



Ok so on another note, what did everyone think about AI tonight? I really thought David A would win, but I was hoping that it would be David C. Who were you voting for????????


These are not the pictures I wanted to use, but I couldnt get my scanner to work.

NEW RECIPE and A SMALL RANT


What would my post be like without a small rant involved? So, I have noticed that some blogs have tickers. There are your "baby tickers" , "pounds lost tickers", "days until our trip to Hawaii" tickers, you get the idea. Well I came across a realy doozy the other day and I wanted to share it. I came across a "Days until my kids are out of school" ticker. What??????? Who is counting that down????????!! Surely it has to be that she is trying to be prepared for that fateful day, and shes not excited about it right????? Help me out here. Now dont get me wrong, I really do enjoy my kids and it is not like I dont have at least 2 kids home with me at all times during the day, but I love having a few hours a day where they are out of the house. Six children home for 3 months is a handful!! I AM excited about not hearing "I need help on my homework" or "I have a big project that I have known about for 3 weeks that I am just now getting started on and I need supplies for"!!! for the next 3 months....... and of course the not having to get up and get kids off to school every morning. HHHHMMMM! Maybe that ticker wasnt such a bad idea! I guess I just have mixed feelings about it all, but I better get over it because we only have about 4 weeks of school left here..........

Ok, on to the recipe. As some of you know, Holly and I belong to this food prep group. Once a month we take turns coming up with recipe that we can put in our freezers for easy cooking nights. It is a great group and fun to try new recipes. This is one of the recipes that we had and my family and I really liked it. Here it is...

Zesty Ginger Tomato Chicken

2-3 pounds of skinless legs, thighs or breasts (whichever you prefer)
2- 14 oz cans of diced tomatoes
1 TBS Fresh grated ginger
2 TBS quick-cooking tapioca
1 TBS fresh cilantro or parsley
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp salt


Combine all of the ingredients minus the chicken and mix well. Place in slow cooker, then add the chicken. Cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 3. I serve it on top of rice. So good!!

This is a great recipe to make ahead and freeze. Just pull it out of the freezer and put in the crock pot! Easy Sunday dinner.

I hope you like it. ******Tip***** If your kids dont like small chunks of tomatoes, (like mine) then I would try using crushed tomatoes instead of the diced. Just a thought.


Well I am off to Bowens baseball game. Only 2 more games left of the season. Have a great night.

This is what I feel like.

UUUUUUGGGGG!!!! It is hotter then snot here!!! (yes Christine, snot can be hot!)

We are having a little "hot" spell here and I am not handling it very well. I feel sticky, sweaty, smelly and just downright nasty. I grew up in Vegas so you would think I could deal with this, but no. I am a HOT MESS here.

Ok, enough complaining. I am very blessed to live here in the bay area, where you "pay out the wazoooo" for good weather. I hate when people tell me that, but it is true. We have pretty mild temps here for the most part, so I shouldnt complain on the days that we are roasting but the heat and I are bitter enemies.

Ok so onto other things. My sister Julie is visiting my sister Laura in AZ this week. They are planning a blog lunch today and I am so excited to hear how it went. I am so jealous. I am the one who got Julie into blogging and now she is meeting some of my blogging buds in person. So fun. All I have to say is there had better have been some cameras-a-flashin girls!

Well I had better start dinner. You know it will be something easy and not involving any ovens! :) Have a great day!

???? What is the weather like where you live?

???? How do you deal with the heat?

MOTHERS DAY and boring post # 2 :)

I had a great Mothers Day this year. My boys were on their extra best behavior, which always makes me happy. They wanted to get up and make me breakfast, but we have 9:30 church and to have to get up any earlier then I need to does NOT make me happy. We compromised and they made me lunch. Church was wonderful. During Sacrament meeting all of the youth and men got up and sang "There is beauty all around" It was beautiful to see all of those priesthood holders up there singing for us. I even scored a nice nap after church!
Chris gave me gorgeous roses and and a plant "that I cant kill" for my kitchen window. We will see how long it lasts. I can barely keep my children alive, let alone a plant!!!! LOL
We then headed to Hollys for our traditional Mothers Day celebration. Then men planned out the whole yummy menu. We had shrimp, Tri-tip sandwiches, salad and a whole boatload or appetizers. So good. They even made us huge chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches. Yes, I did partake of the dessert. How could I have resisted? I didnt want to hurt anyones feelings...... I am always thinking of other people. LOL
I am so grateful to be a mother. It is what I always wanted to be. I never let a day go by thanking my Heavenly Father for giving me such sweet, wonderful boys. I hope all of you rockin moms out there had a great day also. You deserve it!

I just couldnt resist this picture of Lawson in his new duds. I thought he looked so dang cute, but Chris said he looks like a psycho clown. I also have to laugh at Chris in this picture. I always tease him that he looks like he is posing for a police lineup or something. His pictures dont quite show his hotness.....")

FATHERS AND SONS CAMPOUT/GNO!!!

Every year our ward has its Fathers and Sons campout on the weekend of Mothers Day. This year Chris took 5 out of 6 of the boys. How awesome is that?? Chris has a "no diaper" policy and wont take any child unless they are potty trained. I am going to kick it into high gear to get Lawson potty trained for next year. :) Well see. That might be pushing it, but I will definitly try... After Chris left I had Catherine come babysit Lawson. A bunch of us in my ward got together and went to Cheesecake Factory. My sald wasnt that great but my "6 carb" cheesecake was to die for. So good! They really do have it there. It was so fun not having to entertain my little buddy while I ate, and I was even able to do some shopping. Good times! I then headed home, put Lawson to bed and enjoyed a nice evening with "Stacey and Clinton" and some of my other shows I havent had time to watch.

Chris made it home with all of the boys alive and well by noon. It was a great start to the weekend. I already posted about my hot movie night watching Robert Downey Jr. in Ironman. So good. Go see it, you will see an entertaining action flick and also see some cute ,buff ,eye candy. :) I will post about my great Mothers Day later. I didnt want to be a huge bore all in one post, so I will spread it out for you in to 2 posts........ ")

Chris and I went to see Ironman tonight and we really liked it. Tell me I am not the only one out there that thought Robert Downey Jr. looked GOOD in this movie..................Mmmmmm!

I AM DROWNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not really, but I couldnt think of another title of this lovely post. I have been having that feeling though, like I am drowning--in life. Things are just so crazy busy around here, that I feel like I cant catch my breath. I am always on the go, go, go and it maddens me. I am not the kind of person who feels the need to be involved in everything or their kids going every which way. When those times do happen I go batty! I am a slow life lover, I wouldnt say that I like to be dormant, just not ALWAYS in my car. I am sure that my little old neighbor across the street gets dizzy watching my car go in and out of the driveway all day.
I am sure I am not any different then anyone else.

I have also been slacking on my personal goals big time! I am sure that is another reason I feel like I am not handling my stressful life very well either. I have a strong testimony that if you really try and work hard on your spiritual goals in life, your temporal life will go more smoothly. HHMMM! You would think that would be a no brainer for me, but I am a little dense. I would much rather unwind, watching The Hills or Top Chef or any of my other bevy of crappy tv choices. My priorities are a little jacked up for sure! I am a constant work in progress. It really helps me to write this down, that way I have solid evidence of all of the things I nee d to work on. On a good note, I finally got my recommend renewed. I washed mine like A YEAR AGO and havent gotten it renewed yet. Now I have and My man and I have a date next weekend to finally go to the temple I am very excited!

Ok I will move on. I am still going strong on my diet----for the most part. Judson and I were able to go with Holly and her family last night to the Oriales and As game. We were able to sit in the Netsuites. So cool. We were right on the floor behind home plate. We could see all of the cute players close up! Did I just say that? Ooooops. I have to say that I have a hot man at home, but some of those boys are pretty cute, jailbate, but cute! Anyway, we were able to order and eat anything we want-----and I did. I was good at first and had a salad but then dang those nacho s looked tasty and of course some popcorn. Oh well, so it will take me a little longer to get into my thong bikini this summer. No biggie. We had a great time last night. Being the brainiac that I am took my camera, but forgot to load my photocard back into my camera. Duh!

Ok, so another thing, I am SO going to the Blog party next year! I am so jealous of all of your photos and posts about how much fun you guys had. Count me in next year for sure! I am going to have to do some heavy duty smooth talking and "wifely duties" to talk my man into being able to go on 2 girls trips next year. Just kidding. T-M-I I know. Have a great night!

WEEKEND WIDOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



This weekend Chris' brother Michael came into town for a golf weekend. HHHMMMM! You could imagine the sheer depression and sadness that Chris went through when he realized that he HAD to show his brother a good time and golf all weekend! Yah right. So pretty much it is me and the kids today. I am glad that he gets to spend some time with Michael but a little bummed that he is not around. Oh well, I get to go out tonight and see Baby Mama with some friends, so I shouldnt complain too much. Nothing else has been going on around here this week that has been blog worthy. I guess that is a good thing. The diet is going ok. I am still alive and best of all my family is too! I havent gone into psycho sugar withdrawals :)















Chris, Michael, Dallin and Hayden before they went golfing this morning.
See the sadness in Chris' face?


Random picture, but isnt he cute???















Judson and his new haircut. He wanted it to be a little mohawky, and he siad that he wanted it to look like Jake F. Pretty comical.









Well I am off to fold some laundry and change a poopy diaper. Party on!!!!!!!!!!

So last night I was watching Top Chef (one of my favorite shows) and one of the chefs told a knock knock joke. It is silly, but it gave me a good chuckle for a few minutes. I hestitated posting it, but I think that it might bring a little smile to you, especially if you have kids. I am a cruddy joke and story teller, so hopefully I cant screw up typing one! Here it goes...


KNOCK KNOCK.............Whose there???????? SMELLMOP............SMELLMOP WHO??????

Did you get it?

HINT***** Say smellmopwho fast and see what it sounds like.

GOOD MOTHER MOMENT............................................................................................



I just wanted to share with you one more reason why I deserve the Mother of the Year Award.

Chris and I took seperate cars to church today, but we left at the same time. We were on our merry way and me being the speed racer that I am zoomed up to Chris and noticed that he only had 4 kids with him. I did a quick scan through my car and I only had 1 kid in my car. I came to the quick realization that I had left ..........................................................

This sweet little face at home-----------------AGAIN! Yes, this would be the second time that he has been forgotten. So bring it on..... you know I deserve it!!!!! :)

PS Judson on the right was left, not the baby. I think that if I were to leave the baby, I would just go ahead and have myself committed to the loonyfarm!

LIQUID GOLD BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You cant really tell from this cruddy picture, but this is 48 ounces aka 6 cups of Homemade Hot Fudge. MMMMMM! So dang good. Tonight is the final Road Show Performance for our Stake and the kids are having a party afterwards to celebrate.
I offered to make my Hot Fudge Sauce to go over brownies and ice cream. So good. I was licking the pan afterwards and I think I am officially in a sugar induced coma! I am getting my sugar fix in this weekend before the big "D" day Monday. UUUUGGGGGG!
I am ready to shed a few pounds. My jeans are starting to fold over when I bend over. Do you know what I am talking about? I am sure all of you skinny minis out there dont. Oh well!!

It has been a crazy week. I am pooped!! I feel like I have been on taxi driver overload. "take me here" "I need be here at this time". That is my pet peeve. I hate to be overscheduled. I love to live life at a even pace. I guess it is only going to get worse as these kiddies get older.

My back is feeling a little better. I have been to a Chiropractor a couple of times. I am not sure if he is helping, but at least when I go, I dont have any kids hanging on me and I am getting massaged and relaxation for an hour. I only feel like a whiner after I have been sitting for awhile and it is time to get up. I feel like I am 90 years old!!! It sure has helped me appreciate my health a little more. Speaking of health. I got a call this week from our life insurance company wanting to schedule me a physical appt. I was like "what the"???
I called Chris to ask him what was up and he said he was upping my amount. Should I be scared? I told him that usually when that happens, the wife ends up dead or missing!!!! Too funny. I am sure he just wants to make sure he has enough money if I die to hire a HOT Swedish nanny. I think I am going to put in my Will that he can only hire a yucky, old lady with moles to help him. I am bad, I know.

Well enough babbling. I hear my sweet little Dennis the Menace waking up from his nap. I better button down the hatches before I get him out. :)


Speaking of hatches..........What did everyone think of Lost last night????????? I swear that the writers are all on some crazy drugs when they are writing the story lines -----Whacky!

I AM BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow! I cant believe tht it has been this long since I have blogged. I have been sooooo out of the loop this past week. My mom, sister and niece have been here and I also had a freaky injury. So freaky. I am not sure how it happened, but I tweaked my back out on the day they came! Talk about a bummer. They probably think I staged the whole things so they would have to be my slaves while they were here.
It all started last Thursday. All was honkey dorey during the day with me cleaning and getting ready for them to come. I got uin my car, headed to the airport to pick them up-all still fine. I get out of my car-still fine and then I go to help with their luggage and KABLAMMMM! My back decided to take a vacation and not let me know. I hadnt even lifted anything, I had just bent down slightly and I couldny go any farther, I could barely walk back to the car to drive home. So weird. I have NEVER had any kind of injury before. I have been in pain for the past 5 days The first few days I could hardly move. I felt like I wanted to just crawl in a whole and die pretty much. I felt so bad for my company. Each day it has gradually gotten better. Today I am getting around good, it just really hurts when I bend and pick up things or turn. BITES!!!!!

Ok, I wont bore you any more with my old lady body stories anymore. We did have a good time together. We shopped and ate and listened to Two 4 year olds fight and bicker alot, but we had fun. I managed to get around. I was hopped up on my moms Celebrex and Motrin for most of the time and tried to keep up with them. Here are some pictures of the past week or so. They are of Landons Bday and my moms Bday, Chuck E Cheese, Tomatinas (Yum) and Hana Japan (yum) . My big rump even managed to get in a few pictures-----Diet day is Monday. I am going to start up the Adkins diet. Oh how I am dreading it, but just trying to keep my yapper shut and not eat is not working, so drastic measures will have to be done :( Wish me luck and I hope I dont go postal that day. I might need some words of encouragment to keep me sane. LOL I am excited to catch up on blogs. It has been hard to sit down for long periods of time so now that I am feeling better, I am sure I have alot to catch up. I am sure someone is knocked up or something exciting has happened. Have a great day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LANDON!!!!!!!!!!

Today is my sweet Landons 10th birthday. Can I just tell you how awesome this kid is? I am so lucky to be his mom. Landon is such a great helper. I can ask him to do anything and he will go above and beyond what was asked AND without busting my chops about it to. He is a sweet brother, great student and a good friend.

I was teasing him a little tonight telling him about when he was born. I told him that he needed to be extra nice to his mom since he came zooming into this world so fast, I didnt get to have any of my "happy drugs", otherwise known as my best friend the epidural. I had Landon about a half hour after I got to the hospital. I was begging for an epidural right up until the last minute, but no go. He was even my biggest baby at 9 pounds!!! Can you say ouch?????!!! He was well worth the pain. I feel so blessed to be his mom and to have such sweet boys.

Happy birthday Lan-Man!!

So today I have been running around like a raging lunatic. My sister Julie and my mom are coming into town tomorrow and I have been cleaning this sty. On top of all of the cleaning, I have been making dinner, hauling kids here and there and making 36 jumbo M&M cookies for Landon to take to his class for his Bday. Chris pretty much went straight from work to YMs so it has been one looooooonnnnnnnggggggg day. I am feeling mighty haggard. Well I better get to bed. I will keep you posted on all of the partying that will be going on this weekend while they are here! LOL

"CULINARY CORNER"

So, since I am tired of seeing my big butt and hooker heels everytime I get on the computer, I decided to post something new. Not a whole lot has gone on this week. It has been the same ole same ole around here so I am going to post a recipe instead of my weekly play by play.

This recipe was served to us several years ago at a RS dinner. I loved it and have been making it for my family ever since. They love it!

Chicken and White Sauce

3-4 chicken breasts. (I use breast tenders)
1 jar of Classico Alfredo Sauce
1 package of sliced fresh mushrooms
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
3/4 cup of sour cream
2/3 cup of milk ( I put it into the jar of Alfredo and shake it around to get all of the sauce out. I know clever)
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil


Mix all but mushrooms and chicken together until well blended. Add mushrooms and then pour over chicken. Bake at 350 until bubbly and chicken is done. It all really depends on what type of chicken you use. We serve it over rice.


BAM! There you go. Easy and yummy. I hope you like it as much as we do. There is a reason why I suffer from "Dunlop Syndrome" Where your belly dun lops over your jeans. I enjoy the cream sauces baby!

I am finally posting pictures of my 4 inch hooker heels and my "good butt" jeans. I wouldnt go as far as saying that they make my butt look good, but they do help it look a little more perky. Yeah for spandex!!!!

I cant believe I am posting pictures of 2 of my worst body parts. I have a saggy hiney and Fred Flinstone toes. Good thing they are both covered up.

On a happier note I am happy to report that Lawson is finally on the mend. He is feeling better and I dont have to whip out the mop so much to wipe up all of his snot. EEEEWWWW! It is seriously so gross. Well I am off to bed. I am such a night owl. I am going to pay the price for my bad habit someday I know it. Good night...................

GOOD WEEKEND??????!?!!!!!!!!!???????



Well at least it started out that way. Friday was a fun day. It was Lucas' 4th bday. Hayden and Lucas are best buds and one day apart. We went bowling and to Chuck E Cheeses to celebrate. You know how much I love Chucks!! Friday night we had a GNO. It was our friend Tiffanys bday. She is the big 4o!!! I know--old:) I am glad I am not even NEAR that yet!! LOL We went to out to eat and some of us went to the movies afterward. It was alot of fun and very nice to get out and socialize with the girls.



Saturday went to hell in a handbasket and mighty fast. I was excited to kick back this weekend and enjoy conference, but instead, I pretty much stayed in my pjs and held a sick little man all weekend. No, not Chris! Lawson had a fever all weekend. Figures, isnt that the way it always goes? Fine all week and them BAM! out of nowhere comes the plague! So like I said, I rocked and held him ALLLLL weekend long. I have snot and drool all over my clothes to prove it!

He has been hopped up on Tylenol and medicated with LOVE. AAAWWWW, how sappy. It wasnt too bad actually. I rather enjoyed cuddling with what is probably my last baby. (sniff, sniff).



Sunday, again much of the same. We all just hung out and watched conference and enjoyed each others company. Did I really just say that? I wouldnt go that far. There were times, when I wish I could just send them all outside to roam the neighborhood to get out of my hair. :) Chris made some yummy cinnamon rolls and homemade pizza. It was so dang good. Conference weekend is very fattening at our house.



I did enjoy what I could hear from the speakers. There was a moment when the kids were not being very reverent and I had to leave the room to get something. I remember thinking to myself "why am I even trying to watch it, I cant even hear anything they are saying" I then went back into the room, just as Brother Ballard was speaking. Did you just LOVE his talk?? It was wonderful. I just soaked in everything he was saying and my kids were actually listening at that point also. I cant wait for the Ensign to come out next month so I can read it.



Today I took Lawson to the Drs and just as I suspected--Double ear infection. He is now on antibiotics and hopefully going to be his usual self again soon. Well I am off to have some of our after FHE treat. It is a chocolate malt. Oh, my gosh, I actually typed chocolate male instead of malt. HEE HEE good thing I caught that. I think I smell a diet in the near future. Ihope everyone has a great night!

I know, long, boring and no pictures. Sorry.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAYDEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Today is my sweet Haydens Birthday. He is 4 years old, I cant believe it. He is such a funny kid and so full of personality. He is always cracking us up. He hasnt always been that way though.
Many times has that kid been in the drivers seat of driving me crazy!! He has been my budding artist on most of my walls, tables and anything else he can get his hands on. His weapon of choice is never anything washable either. It is always Sharpies and crap like that. He could untie, unscrew, and undo anything, at such an early age too. I hate to admit this, but there were so many days when I dreaded getting up each morning. It felt like Groundhogs Day everyday!! All I seemed to do is follow him around from one mess to another!! UUUGGG! Thank goodness he has mostly outgrown that phase, and I now have Lawson who is taking over that job! That will be another therapy session for later !!:0





Here are 4 things about Hayden:

1. He has almost every line of the Cars movie memorized. He has seen that dang movie over and over again, but he loves to re-enact it every day! He lines up his cars on the table bench and acts out the first part of the movie. Maybe he is a future Matt Damen.

2. He LOVES LOVES LOVES to pray! He wants to pray all the time and never give anyone else a turn. Sometimes the others dont care, but he needs to share the blessings dude!

3. Loves to go to " Depot Home" ( that is what he calls Home Depot) with Chris. He loves to go anywhere with dad. Mom is chop liver when he is around:)

4. Hayden loves his brothers. He follows them around everywhere and is always saying "good job" or "can I help you" . Very sweet.

I feel so blessed to be his mom, he brings so much love and spunk to this household. Happy Birthday Haymaker!

HELP!!!

I wasnt going to post today due to the fact that I am on my deathbed today. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like a Mack truck had parked on my face! Not only parked on , but ran over, did a few doughnuts and peeled out on my face. I dont know what the problem is but the point is, I feel like crap!!!

I have had a challenging few days. I need to get it of my chest. My kids are driving me nuts with all of thier bickering. They have been so snippy with each other and so dang sassy. I have been smothered by a baby with a nose, face and eyes full of boogars. He is so clingy and ornrey. Good thing these days are few and far between, but last night I was ready to run out of the house and do some SERIOUS retail therapy. :) I have not felt like doing any cleaning, cooking or anything domestic either. I am in a funk for sure.

Well, I know this was a dorky post, but I feel a ton better getting it off my chest. I am sure that my funk will pass. It seems like they come every few months. Is anyone else feel like this at times? I am sure you do. I would love some good advice. I know, I have not had a Diet Coke today. Maybe that is it!!! Have a great night!

I'M ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Barely. I survived Spring Break. I never thought I would, but I did. I have missed blogging and I am very behind. Chris' sister Dana and her 5 kids came to visit us for the week. That is alot of kids in my house! They all get along great, but it was a little nutty at times. Dana and I managed to get away without kids a few times. We went shopping at a few places and then to the mall a couple of times. Very fun.

For some reason, they would not go outside and play. Drove us crazy. It was a beautiful week, but no, they would hover around the computer, play Guitar Hero or just run around like a screaming bunch of Banshees, oh wait, that was us. No we had a fun time, really. My MIL and FIL came on Thursday and Danas husband Richard came to join the fun on Friday. So in case you lost count, that is 17 people in my house!!! '

Saturday, we all took the kids to the movies. SOme of us went to see 10,000 BC and the rest of us went to see Horton Hears a Who. Very cute movie. I would have rather of seen The Other Bolyn Sister, but I dont think that I would be eligible for Mother Of the Year if I took the kids to see that movie, now would I?

Later that night all of the adults went to dinner. It was fun to get out and spend time together without a bunch of cute snot nose kiddies in our faces.

Today I pretty much have been doing laundry up and out the Wazoo and cleaning up. I also went to Target. I was having some withdrawals from that place. I think they missed me also! It was very nice sending the kiddies out the door this morning. It was NOT nice getting up so dangh early though! After a week of sweet slumber, it was very rough rolling my rump out of bed. I for sure was not Miss Merry Sunshine this morning. Very crusty indeed.

Well I need to get going on dinner. I am going all out today. We are having some nasty dinner in a box for sure! I have not gotten my cooking wings back! Have a great night.

I was tired of seeing my last post and even though nothing too exciting is going on right now, I will post anyway. So grab that big old gallon of caffeine, because after this you will need it!

This weekend was actually pretty fun. Chris and I had 2 date nights this weekend. Friday we went out to eat and then to the mall---I Know-shocking! Not Chris' most favorite place to be. He always says that he would rather get an enema in public then to go shopping. Whatever.

He went willingly this time since Saturday he was making us go to his work party. Usually I am up for a party, but I was dreading this one. I am a jeans girl and other then church attire, I dont really have a fancy event wardrobe. I was able to pick out a dress, cute necklace and some HOT red 4inch heels to wear. They were so cute, but I felt like a total dork, walking in them!! Here is this 6 ft chick walking around in 4 inch heels and RED also. Oh well. I am glad that I have a tall husband so I could get away with it.

Saturday we just did outside stuff, got my nails done ( hate that) and then to the party. I felt bad leaving the kids 2 nights in a row, but they did great. Saturday Chris and I didnt even get home until midnight. Dallin had then all in bed by the time we got home. It is great having built in bbsitters.

Sunday was a great day. The kids got up and found their treats that the Easter Bunny left and we had dinner at Hollys. I hate posting this, but we didnt even go to church today. I felt horrible all day. We NEVER just miss church for no reason, but today we did. We just couldnt get up and going. We will probably all rot in you-know-where.

Today is the first real day of Spring Break. Can I just tell you that if today says anything, it is going to be a LLLLOOOOONNNNNNGGGGGGGGG week for me. I hope I am alive at the end of the week to tell about it. This is just a taste of what my summer is going to be like.

We were going to go to Vegas this week, but decided not to. Chris' sister Dana and her kiddies will come for a few days and then his parents will come this weekend, so that will be fun. A house full of 11 kids! What could be better?

Well I hope every one had a great holiday.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME TODAY??????!!

My food intake today:

Slimfast shake
whopper with cheese and fries, Diet Coke
HUGE handful of M&Ms
Large taco salad (hey, at least it is a salad)
1 more LARGE handful of M&Ms
Diet rootbeer

Which one of these is not like the other????? LOL

If it is true the you are what you eat, then I am a 6 ft tall pile of crap.

I am sure it because I have had a stressful and sad day today. I feel mentally and physically drained. Today I attended the funeral of a couple in our wards baby daughter. She had been in the hospital her whole 2 months of life. She was a sick little girl who couldnt overcome her illnesses. It was a beautiful service. They had a musical number of the song "Walk tall your a daughter" I guess it was the song that her mommy sang to her all the time in the hospital. I lost it! I was almost to the "ugly cry" I had to pinch myself so I wouldnt make a spectical of myself.
Really beautiful. Brooke, you guys did a great job if your reading.
Anyway, it made me want to run home and kiss my sweet babies and just sit and love them a little more today.

Well ok I need to get out of my fog and get something done today. I have my washer guy coming tomorrow. Oh goody, I get to sit home and twiddle my thumbs from between the hours of 8-12! Wish me luck!!

I HAVE A NEW NIECE!!

My brother Ken and his wife had a new baby last week. Her name is Abigail Artha. Isnt she cute?? I wanted to post earlier about her, but since nobody knows how to email or send me pictures, I had to steal this one off of my sisters blog.

Wow! Pink. That is a color that I never get to have at my house :(

Your Leprechaun Name Is:

Tweedle Potfiller

What's" Your Leprechaun Name?

I saw this on Crazymamas blog and thought it was too funny. I must say that the name is quite fitting, since the pot that I am always filling is my belly! :)

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!