QUICK UPDATE

Since I am just sitting here waiting for yet another Realtor to "preview" my house I thought I would update my poor, pathetic blog. I just feel like I have nothing too exciting to share, but I have lots of feelings that I could be journaling. I guess I am afraid of sounding like a huge Debbie Downer or a huuuuge Biotch! I guess I am. :) Might as well own up to it.

Lets see, since last, my mom came to visit. We had a good time. It was really hard though because it was my kids spring break the WHOLE time she was here. It was loud and a little crazy. It would have been nicer if we had some more time without the kiddies. We did get to escape with no kids a few times of course, but it still was a little loud and nuts. Oh well. My mom, Chris and I went in to San Francisco and saw Wicked. It was great ans she LLOOOVOED it. We took Bart in and she thought that was really cool to. I wouldnt call being "gleaked on" by some whacky stranger cool, but oh well. Nasty.

I know I should be post ing pics, but I havent uploaded them yet. I dont even know if I have anything excited to even upload. After years of whining about how much I hate my camera, Chris finally went and bought me a new one. have I used it yet?????? Nope! Loser. I will. It is just one more thing that I havent gotten around to.

We are down to the last few months here in the Bay Area. It is so weird. In a way I am so glad that our house hasent sold. It has given us this time to enjoy Ptown a little longer. I have been under a ton of stress though. Not feeling great with this pregnancy, Chris traveling and cleaning up after 6 kids is sending me to the moon. My poor kids have had to bear the brunt of all of my many moods. I hope they forgive me. The other day I was talking to Dallin. I cant remember what about but he said "yah, pretty much around 8 oclock every night you lose it" How sad. So true, but sad. I worry about that all the time. Are they going to grow up thinking their mom was a nasty hag all of the time? I am sure we all think that way.

Lets see, oh yah, another thing driving me to the nut house is my sweet Lawson and his voice. He is sooo loud and annoying. Drives me nuts. Driving in the car with him has been a real "treat" I find myself cranking up the volume of the tv or radio to drown him out! If anyone out there has watched Mad Tv and seen the character Stewart? He would sound exactly like him. Not good. He is still a cutie though and I wont list him on Craigs List just yet!

Ok, enough of my ragging on. Still no Realtor and I need to go dry my fuzzy ball of hair. He better show up or I will call him and give him a piecce of my mind, and in my fragile state, I just might! :)

Have a great weekend!

UUUGGG! I am trying this again. Picassa 3 bites!


I have tried to figure out why the pictures keep disappearing from my blog. I am not smart enough I guess. :)
My mom and dad were wondering where the pictures were so here they are for those of you who are wondering who was in those blank squares in my last post. Its this cute little birthday boy Landon
Happy Birthday AGAIN Landon!

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


Today is Landons 11th birthday. I cant believe it has been 11 years. I remember this little guys birth like it was yesterday. Boy do I ever! He was my " I'm gonna come way too fast so you dont have time for an epidural and I am going to be your biggest baby" baby ! He weighed 9 pounds and no epidural. You think I would have stopped at 3, but noooooooooo, I am having a 7th, crazy.
But let me tell you, this kid was so worth it! I love him so much. He is so helpful and easy going. I dont have to ask him twice to do anything. He just goes and does it the first time. He never has to be reminded to do homework and rarely needs help. This is such a huge help when I have others that need me to nag them to death to get it done...

We are so greatful to have him in our family. Happy birthday Lanard Bananard!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAYDEN!!




Today is Haydens 5th birthday. I cant believe he is already 5. Where has the time gone?
Hayden is so much fun! He cracks us up. He has always had such a funny personality.

When he was about 1 1/2 I wasnt sure he was going to make it to his 2nd birthday. He was into everything 24/7!!!! Nearly drove me to insanity if I wasnt there already. I remember every night putting him to bed and thinking to myself "crap! I have to do this all over again tomorrow. " Seriously on the go go go all the time.

Now he is just the best. We love him so much. Happy Birthday Hayden!!!


I think that July must have been a boring month for alot of people, because I know
ALOT of April birthdays!! ( wink wink )

OOOOPS!!! I did it again!!


No, what you see at the right is not an illusion! I am knocked up again. Can you believe it??
Just when I thought the factory was closed, it snuck up and reopened on me . I had just thrown/given away all of my baby crap and BAM it looks like I am going to need it all again.

This seriously was a big shocker for us. I couldnt believe it. I had just finally felt "done" and ready to move on to the next phase of my life. Dont get me wrong, I am extremely grateful for my fertility and feel that this little baby is meant to come. Poor kid, it doesnt know what he is in store for! :)

I am finally starting to feel "human" again. This was a rough one. I usually get sick for the first few months, but this one knocked me on my butt! I had days where I didnt get dressed or move off of the couch. UUUGG! Not good when you have 6 little dudes to care for, house to keep clean, and all of that stuff.

I really am not a huge fan of Baby tickers, but I thought it would be comical to have one on my blog to shock all of you. Who knows how long I will keep it up. Maybe it will grow on me, who knows.

Well I am off to do some more laundry. I am still trying to catch up from my dryer being on the fritz last week. What a hot Friday night activity!


PS The Fishers told Chris and I when I was pregnant with Lawson, that we needed a T.V. in our bedroom.......................maybe we had better try that out...hehehe

GIRLS TRIP



After Julie bugging me to death to post some pictures from our Girls trip, I finally am getting off my butt and doing it. I really wasnt in the picture mood this year. It just seemed like too much effort to whip out my camera everywhere and to lug the big sucker around (hate my camera). I sound really lazy, dont I? :)

We had sooo much fun. Every year we go to Irvine, Orange Co area. We meet on Thursday and come home on Sunday-----pure bliss, but it goes way too fast!

We just shopped----Every mall around, South Coast Plaza, Fashion Island etc..
Ate lots--------California Pizza Kitchen, PF Changs, Claim Jumpers Sprinkles( 2 times, Sees candy---oh the list goes on and on


This year we also slept as long as we wanted to, went to bed when we wanted to and just took our merry old time doing whatever we wanted----good times.
The onlybummer part was that I didnt find me 1 stinkin thing----NOTHING!
Very sad. I am sure I will make up for it later. Hehe


We go with the same group every year. I have known these ladies forever, well 2 are my sisters, so of course I have known them forever, but the other 2 are twins, Kathleen (funniest person alive) and Liz. They are freinds of Julies from her college days. I love this picture of the "old ladies" with their glasses. so funny. They kept telling us that when me and Laura turn 40, that will be us-----HELL NO !! I refuse to get old! We had so much fun and I cant wait until next year!!



Well I did my duty Julie, Now I am off to go eat some grub with my man. I am starving. I wanted to go earlier, but that dang daylight savings is cramping my style.... I feel bad dragging the kids in when it is still light outside---I know, I should win the nicest mother award. -NOT !

Have a great weekend!

I dont know what happened to the picture in the previous post, but this is what was suppose to be there......technology Grrrrrrr!

REALLY????????????

Has it really been that long since my last post????? The horror!!! I am officially the worlds suckiest blogger----------the title is all mine ladies!

Gosh, what is my excuse???????hhhhmmmmm! None. Shear laziness. My life has been crazy these past couple of months. Crazy! So many things have happened. I will delve into some of them an my next post. Not that anyone will return to check, but you never know, it may be worth it! hehe

I will just touch base on a couple of happenings in the Smith household.

1. Baseball season has started, which means practices, practices and more practices. Good times. I think I need to start charging my kids"fares" for being their taxi driver. As Andrea put it on a comment to me on FB---"You signed up for it!" haha loved it!

2. Dallin made the HS Golf team!!! Yeah for him---boo for me! Guess who gets to drive him to all of the various local Golf Courses??? ME! He is really lucky though. These are such beautiful courses up in the hills. I really dont mind too much, because the views are gorgeous!

3. This cute little 4 year old in the picture here learned to ride his bike! yeah! In less then an hour! He was so sad that one of his brothers took off his training wheels. Chris and I said, he will ride it in no time flat---and he did. He is a fast learner. It is so cute seeing him riding his little bike.

4. Landon is off this week to his Outdoor Ed. 5th grade trip. They are gone for 3 days. They go to a place off the coast called Pigeon Point. So lucky. Right next to the ocean. I miss him. He is my big helper.

5. Chris is still traveling. Not too bad, but it stinks when he is gone. Our house is still on the market---UUUUGGG !

6. This is the best happening so far-------my girls trip is coming up this week!!!!!!!! yeah! So excited. I cant believe it is already here. This year has flown by. I am so excited to just shop, eat, sleep and do whatever the hell I want for a few days. Did I mention how excited I was????????:)


Well that is about it. I will post more when I get back on Sunday. (If I come back) haha I hope all is well for everyone. I love that I can keep in touch with alot of you through FB. Right now it works for me. I can do it all on my Crackberry. Without ever getting off my fat butt! Have a great day.

Finally I figured out my photo dilemma!! Well actually my cute computer genius did. I will have to remember to tip him well.! These are some of the pictures from our Vegas trip and Christmas.

We had a great time in Vegas. This trip we actually stayed with Chris's parents. His sister Dana

and her family are living with them right now, so we had 6 adults, and 12 children all under 1 roof! Crazy, but we all get along well and the kids had a blast.

We did some shopping, eating, visiting with family, movies, Chuck E Cheese, Shooting and visiting the Hoover Dam. UUUGGG! What a nightmare!! Hoover Damn scares the crud out of me! Seriously scares me. I had nightmares and panic attacks all of the night before we left. I had visions of kids leaning over too far and falling. I am happy to report that out of all of the 30+ family members that went, none took a sledding trip down the DAM..................................................

I cant believe that it is already almost Feb. Where in the heck did the time go? I thought for sure we would be in Utah by now, but this lovely economy is keeping us here in beautiful California a little longer. I am more then fine with that! This past week we enjoyed 70 degree weather------in January!!! Go figure. Well I need to go get some food on the table. I have been kind of lazy all day. Good times!

Here are some pictures. You will have to click on them to see thm bigger, not that they are exciting, but unless you have supersonic vision, they are hard to see. Also my computer is making me type goofy, sorry. I guess Blogger is getting back at me for bein g a FB traitor...hehe

NOT GONE AND HOPEFULLY NOT FORGOTTEN..................................................................


It has been a hundred years since I have blogged. I have tried several times to upload my pics from our Vegas trip, but for some reason my computer is not letting me. I will blog more when I get those up. Who wants to read my post with no pics????????? Not me!

I have also been quite hooked on FB. I have been keeping up with a good chunk of my peeps that way, but will always be a blogger. I hope everyone is great! I will be back as soon as my pics are up. (my computer man, ie.. my hubby is on a "mans golf weekend" trip) He is back on duty the second he walks in the door! hehe Have a great weekend!

Vegas Baby!!

So after weeks of ho-humming about if I want to go to Vegas this year or not, we decided that we had better go. blah blah! I am sort of dreading the drive, the packing the non-planning of events and so forth, my kids love seeing their cousins and Grandparents and so do I of course. It is just a pain in the butt. I guess I am just getting old and crotchetty. hehe

We had a fun Christmas. It was nice and relaxing and alot of fun hanging out with the kids--yes! I really did type that. No, I really do have great kids and enjoy them, I am so thankful for such a wonderful family.

I hope you all had a great Christmas and thank you for all of the cute Christmas cards. Dont think that you were off of the Smith Christmas card list this year, I just didnt get my act together in time to get a picture done. I am planning a family picture with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background sometime before we move. I think it will be a nice memory for the kids to have to remind them of our fabulous years here in California.

I will post some pics of our Christmas festivities when I get back. I of course will be keeping up with my blog reading and stalking thanks to my hubbys laptop, and for sure Facebook. So fun.

Have a great week!

FUNNY LITTLE STORY.................

Well, not really, but I kind of thought it was. Now keep in mind I am the worlds suckiest story teller, so try to keep up. :)

A couple of months ago, I was getting ready to board a plane home from my Utah trip. I was finding my seat and had noticed it was next to a man who looked very familiar to me. I couldnt place the face, but I knew I had seen him before. ( I hate when that happens!) After a little while, I finally realized who he was. He was the husband of one of the many bloggers that I stalk. I mean serioulsy stalk. This chick has NO idea who the heck I am.
It was the strangest feeling. It is almost like you are sitting next to a celebrity of some sorts. I almost said something, but was afraid that he might call security on me or something for being crazy.
Ok, so I guess it really wasnt that funny, but I just wanted to write it down.........I owe you all a big Diet Coke for boring you to death..............

Im still alive.... barely! I havent been much in a blogging mood or any mood lately. I am in a slump. I cant describe it, but I feel like a cross between Debbie Downer and Uncle Scrooge. That is a lovely image isnt it?

I should be more in a festive mood, but I am not feeling it, trying, but failing. HHHHHMMM! Oh well. On to more exciting things....

It has taken me a hundred years to post these pictures of our wild party with the Hales and the Bracketts. Christina and her cute family stopped in for a visit a few weeks ago, it was her bday to be exact. We had a great time. We havent seen each other face to face in many years, but it really didnt seem like it. Between my 6 kids, Christinas 4 and Rachels 5, we had quite the group of rugrats. The kids all got along great and we had a blast. Let just hope it isnt another 8 or so years until we see each other again!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAWSON

I cant believe that my baby is 2 years old today!! Where did the time fly? He is the cutest stinker and he brings so much joy to our family. Everynight before he goes to bed he has to "hug" everyone. It is so sweet. He is the cutest little guy. We are not quite sure where he got the blonde hair from. Chris says he is still waiting for the DNA testing results to come back . Funny guy!! OH! Not that he doesnt drive us insane with his 24/7 naughty antics (watered down makeup bag, kitchen watered down with the sink sprayer, etc. etc..)

Lawson isnt quite the talker yet. Chris says that he sometimes feels like he is in a Lassie Show. He is jibber jabbering about something, we just cant quite understand him. I guess it is a good thing. It will prolong the sassy mouth and potty talking right?? :0

Lala, we love you, you bring so much love to our family. Happy Birthday!

TWILIGHT MANIA

So a bunch of us crazy girls all got together and went to the 12:01 showing of Twilight. There were about 25 of us that braved the masses of teeny boppers.
Even though I was not crazy about the quality of the flick, I greatly enjoyed a night out with my friends. Good times!!!!!

Here are just some of my thoughts about the movie that irritated me:

1. "Climb on my back Spidermonkey"! Need I say more????

2. The hideous makeup and hair on ALL of the Cullens

3. The way Edward "sparkled" I would say he looked like he was sweaty

4. Why did the Cullens drive a JEEP? I imagined them driving a Porsche or Mercedes.

5. Jaspers "crazy" eyes. He kind of looked like he had rabies.

Ok, I will spare you my more of my thoughts on the movie. I did find it entertaining, but very cheesy. I would have to say my favorite part of the movie was when Edward was going in for the big mack-daddy kiss and told her to "hold still and dont move". That was rather hot.

I would love to hear your thoughts on Twilight. What was your favorite/worst part? Who did you go with? Did you brave the masses at the 12:01 showing?

OH NO HE DIDNT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh! How I sometimes want to sell boy number 6 on Craigs List!

Today as I was right in the middle of something extremely important-----------blogging! I was disrupted by the sound of running water. An almost 2 year old and running water are never a good combination... I opened the bathroom door to this!
This picture does not do the moment justice, but this is my makeup bag FILLED TO THE BRIM with freaking water! Oh how I wanted to scream, but instead I went and grabbed my camera and took this picture. I think the camera actually saved his life! hehe
Good thing I love this kid to pieces!

RECIPE ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


ok! So last night I must have had a bee up my butt because I decided to put away the box dinners and frozen deliciousness I usually call dinner and make my family a "real" meal. I know, I am shocked also! I havent made this recipe lately, but it is a family favorite and trust me it is SO GRUB!!!! So put your diets aside and your calorie counters away, because this one is NOT low calorie or low fat, but so worth every fat roll you will gain from enjoying it. So here it goes and Bon Appetit!!!!!


Outstanding Chicken Dinner

3 TBS butter
1(8 oz) package mushrooms
3 cups chicken broth
5-6 chicken breasts
1-1/2 (10 oz) can of artichoke hearts, drained and sliced
3/4 c butter
3 TBS flour
2 1/4 cup of half-half
1 1/2 cup Parmesean cheese Not the green can!!) :)
1 1/2 tsp dried Rosemary (optional, I do not add)
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper


Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325. Melt 3 tbsp of butter in skillet over med. heat and saute the mushrooms until tender. Remove and put in 11X13 baking dish. Add artichoke hearts to mushrooms in dish also.

2. Place the chicken in skillet and poor broth over it. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked. Add cooked chicken to baking dish, but reserve 3/4 cup of broth.

3. Melt the 3/4 cup butter in pan and wisk in flour until smooth. Gradually add in the reserved broth and the half-half stirring constantly until thickened. About 5 minutes. Turn off heat and add cheese, herbs, salt and pepper and add to chicken mixture.

4. bake uncovered for about 25 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand for a few minutes to let sauce thicken. I serve with rice or serve with noodles.

Make sure you serve with some yummy crusty bread, because you will NOT want to waste one drop of this sauce. SO good.

This recipe makes about 6 servings.

THIS BLOG IS BEING HIJACKED. KEEP CALM AND NO ONE WILL GET HURT!!!!!

This is Chris, Linda's husband, and I have hijacked her blog today since it is her birthday. Happy Birthday Linda, I love you!!

How did I hijack her blog? Let's just say it pays to be an IT guy. Sorry, dear you will have to be really nice to me if you want me to reset your password.

First a confession. I am a blog stalker. Is there a twelve step program for that? I never admit it to Linda but I do occasionally read her and some of her blogging buddies blogs. I think that keeping a blog has been rather therapeutic for Linda over the past year or so. Heaven knows if anyone qualifies for therapy it is a mother of 6 boys and wife to 1 borderline adult husband.

Here are some things I love about Linda:

- She is beautiful. For some reason she is pretty hard on herself when it comes to how she looks. I don't get it. She is HOT! Smokin Hot! (think Talladega Nights - Ricky Bobby)
- She is a pop trivia queen. If you want to know who was in what movie, which star is dating some other flunky, she will know it.
- Linda loves music. Whenever I get in my car after she has driven it the stereo is cranked and usually pumping out some top 40, hip hop who knows what. I swear that sometimes it feels like I'm married to a teenager and that is a good thing.
- Linda loves chocolate. I don't think love is strong enough word. I think that if I were made of chocolate, like in the Axe commercial, that would be a tough dilemma for Linda but in about a week she would be a widow.
- She is a social person. I say that because basically I'm not. She makes friends, good friends, wherever we go. She is down to earth and supportive. Great friend qualities.
- Linda loves her sleep. But only at the proper times. The proper times for her are from 1 AM to 11 AM. Unfortunately for her the rest of her life is not cooperating with that sleep schedule. On days when I'm there or she gets to sleep in there is hell to pay if anyone dares to make a peep or walk to loudly before 10 AM. Of course I'm exaggerating - but only a little. Our neighbors have a gardener that comes by on Saturday morning and sometimes he has the lawnmower, etc. going at 7 AM (way to early) and I think that if we had a gun in the house I would be posting about our periodic conjugal visits.
- Linda is an awesome mom. Especially lately when I'm gone for 3 days at a time. I do not know how she does it. When she leaves for her periodic girls weekends I put on a good show like it is no big deal but holy crap it wipes me out. She is tireless in keeping the house clean, us fed and clothed, being the WWF referee, keeping on the boys to get their homework done, etc... Linda you are the bomb. Totally amazing.
- Linda is the peacemaker in our relationship. Early on in our marriage it became clear that I was the one who would hold a grudge and be a jerk just to prove a point. Linda has always had a great ability to put the petty stuff off to the side and help us both realize what is important - us. That does not mean she is a pushover, she just has the ability to put pride aside and make the first move toward ending any squabble we may have. I can also truthfully say that in 17 plus years of marriage we have never had a big fight. Lots of disagreements to be sure but it is because of her that we have a very harmonious relationship.
- Linda is the greatest thing that has happened to me. I loved my mission, I love each of my children and I love the church but they all pale in comparison to how much I love Linda. (Notice I didn't mention golf? Truth be told I love her way more than golf too). We were engaged two weeks after we met basically because I knew she was the right woman for me. 17 years later I can't believe how lucky I am that she is my wife. Seriously, how many women would even consider, let alone be on board, with having 6 kids? If it were up to her I think she would even be OK with one or two more. I cannot imagine my life without her in it. The promise of being together forever with her is AWESOME!!!

Linda, Happy Birthday. If you look at the bio on this blog it says her age, 39. Hard to believe. I hope you have a happy birthday. I'm trying my best to make it one.

Love Me

Why ask why????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Things I am thinking about at this moment:



Why does Lawson insist on taking his diaper off all day long?

Why do I have a headache for the 2nd night in a row?

Why isnt it bedtime (for the kiddies) yet?

Why isnt my house sold?!!!!!!!!

Why do I want to attack my kids Halloween bags for candy?

Why do I have to turn 39 this week???????? Where did the time go???

Why do I always have a huge pile of laundry to do??

Why is my computer so slow? Helloooooo, I am married to an IT guy!!!

Why am I so addicted to Facebook?

Why did Obama (or as Hayden calls him- Jomamba or Omama) win???

Why am I making this stupid list instead of doing my dishes? :)


AAAAAHHHH! Alot off of my chest, I do feel better now.

A WHOLE LOT OF NOT MUCH.....................................................



I have been smack in the middle of a serious bloggers rut! I try to think of something exciting to post about, but my mind goes blank. I feel that I am just going through the motions of life and I am trying to stay afloat. I am in no way saying that my life is bad at all. It is just seriously in chaotic mode and I dont see it slowing down anytime too soon.

It doesnt help that I am a single mom during most of the week. I am doing it all and all by myself. I know, go call the Wambulance, because I am totally whining. People out there have it MUCH worse then I do, but this is starting to bite the big one!! Our house still hasnt sold. Not a huge shocker with the economy the way it is. I am ok in the fact that it is keeping me here in California longer, but it is getting old and Chris is tired of the traveling. Oh well...

I was on one of my many trips to the Sports Park today picking up kids from football practice and my sweet little Bowen asked me what was for dinner. I told him the meager choices and he asked me when we were going to have REAL food for dinner. WHAT??? He wanted to know why I dont cook anymore..... Gee, let me ponder over that one........ Good thing he is cute. :)

Here is a collage of some of the events from the past week or so. It is pictures from our Trunk or Treat last weekend and from the Pack Meeting last night. Landon received his Arrow of Light. So awesome. Way to go Landon!!

Well I am off to try and get my kids to bed. I have been going to bed WAy too late and I need to stop. Waking up at 5:45 to get Dallin off to Seminary is not that pleasant considering I had just went to bed 5 hours earlier. Dummy! Goodnight!