100th Post

So here are 25 things you might not know about me. Then again, you might! I thought for this 100th post I'd be able to do a list of 100 somethings. But, it took me a week to come up with this 25 and I am completely done! Enjoy!!

1. I have naturally curly hair and only figured out how to "use" it in the last 7 or so years.


2. I feel guilty when I sleep too long.


3. I don't have any talents that I'm fantastic at - a ton that I am okay at doing.
   
4. I love the rain, even when it should be snow.


5. I majored in broadcasting - I wanted to be a radio dj.


6. I still critique radio broadcasters - "I could do better than that!"


7. I was involved in a high school prank that almost got our teacher fired! (she works at Walmart now!)


8. I once split a Dairy Queen ice cream cake with 3 other friends - none of us finished our quarters.


9. I love playing tennis, swimming, rappelling, riding a motorcycle (behind my husband), playing skeet ball, air hockey, pool, bowling.


10. I don't have a favorite color, though I do love pastels. And judging from my wardrobe I'd say my favorites are blue (any shade), pink, black, and royal purple.


11. I'm pretty picky about smells - and not just because I'm pregnant. Some lotions make me gag, and my husband dumped a whole bottle of generic Polo down the drain because I hated it. I didn't know it was Polo and bought him another one about a month later - we gave that one away.


12. I thought I was pretty good at the drums on rock band - then we got guitar hero and I sucked. It seems that I often start out doing well at something and it goes downhill from there. Like in bowling, my first game is going to score higher than my second game.


13. I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up - now that I'm teaching my son, I'm not so sure. Maybe a CPA? And a mother is still good, too!


14. I only liked playing with barbies and dolls because I liked to change their outfits. I find that, now that I have a daughter, I'm still into changing outfits.


15. I'm a copycat artist. I don't do anything original. I copy clothing styles, drawings, decorating ideas, etc.


16. When I was 3 or 4 I had to be Frosty the snowman in a family play - I think that was the beginning of my weight issues. It didn't help to be called "Bessy the Cow" by some of my family (extended too).


17. My husband proposed 3 times before I said "yes." The last one was right where I'd always wanted it to be - on a bridge over a river, like the movie "Anne of Avonlea".


18. I really like to be organized, everything in its place - and when things start getting unorganized, watch out! I turn into a bit of a bear.


19. I love my family so much. Both the one I grew up in and the one we started together. They are the most important things in my life, and I'll do whatever I can to keep spending quality time with them.
20. That being said, I hate playing. Ben is always asking me to "play" with him. That's just not me. I can do it for a few minutes, but I quickly get bored with it. I had lots of siblings and cousins to play with - I guess with him being the oldest, I need to be his playmate. Ugh.
21. I am a pretty good cook. I enjoy baking - my brother and I both want to start a bakery someday.
22. The first time I went shooting with my husband I did better than him! The only date I was ever asked out on in high school was to go out to Green Rock, to go shooting - and I now own my own gun!
23. I hate talking on the phone. If I can get away with an email, etc., then I will. I've just never been much of a phone person - must have got that from my dad.
24. We still use the alarm clock I got for Christmas when I was about 16 years old. I can't believe it still works! Although, that's to be debated, there have been a few times it didn't go off.
25. When I was a teen (or tween) I thought I could write a pretty interesting book about the going-ons of my life and those around me. For some reason I thought all the "I like you"s were something interesting and original!!!!

Another long post with pictures.....

The grandparents have been a highlight for the kids over the past week. On Thursday I had my doctor's appt. Ben chose to go with me - he wanted to ride the elevator. Although he complained about all the waiting, he said he had a good time. We heard the heartbeat again, and everything else is good, too. Had to have some blood drawn for yet another test. Ben was a little worried while they did that. Anyway, Sarah stayed at our house with my mom. I set up her princess castle and she and Grammy had a tea party - complete with pink jello cookies and dried cranberries. They said they had a good time. I found that Sarah invented cranberry water. She decided the cranberries should go in the tea cups with the water. My mom said it was good - but she was talking to Sarah, so I don't know if it really was good!

I think this was Grammy scooping up the cranberries after drinking the water.



Kannon's mom had a doctors appt. in Reno, last Friday. They stayed overnight with us, and the kids couldn't get enough of Grandma. Even though she wasn't feeling well after her appt. she did her best to spend her time with them. Then Saturday day afternoon, Kannon decided we needed to ditch the kids and go to Lowe's together. My mom was more than happy to babysit. So, we got a few hours to ourselves, and had a little date to Ferntucky, Lowe's, and back. We picked out some stuff we'd like to buy when we remodel the bathroom later this year. And we bought some boards and last night we started a shelf we are going to build. I'll give updates when that's finished. We also got to go out and eat tacos with my parents on Sunday evening. We visited, the kids played, and we watched Christmas morning, so they could see what the kids got and their reactions.

The next bunch of pictures are kind of random. This is from school last week. We did the letter J. So, that morning I came up with jello art. I tried to paint with it, but found that glue and sprinkling the jello worked better. (By the way, I'm having a hard time with a lot of the English language as I try to teach my son rules. Why isn't jello spelled jellow? I've typed it that way twice now!) This is Sarah concentrating really hard. Ben made a spaceship with his. I had a picture of Ben and Luke, but I accidentally deleted it off my camera. It was still a fun deal. We also made jello cookies. I was telling someone about them and she thought somehow we put set-up jello in the cookies. They are made with powder jello in the dough, with the sugar, and also rolled in the powder before cooking.

This is a picture of the ornaments my mom bought me for my birthday, for my tree next year.

Kannon caught this look one morning. She was pouting about something and he was able to catch her before she got over it. She does a great pout. I mean check out those lips and eyebrows! But, please ignore the hair. Remember, this was still morning, she's even in her pj's.

This was another great look! We made some changes on the dining room area. We moved the bench and table in front of the door that leads into our bedroom (the 2nd door, by the way). We'd gotten tired of the kids trying to go through there and leaving it open, which made our room really cold - the back porch/dining area are not heated. We've got the computer desk blocking the door from the other side. Anyway, Sarah was goofing off at dinner - not unusual. She ended up getting down the back of the bench, just fitting in between the door and bench. There wasn't quite enough room there for her to move her legs to step on anything and get back up. She was stuck. I love that look - I think it totally says "Help - and yes, I know I'm in trouble."

I haven't decided how I feel about 9 am meetings on Sundays. I'm definitely not used to it yet. On the one hand I hate getting up with an alarm clock. I don't usually have to do that. Ben's feet hitting the floor at about 8 am are my usual alarm. But, to get myself ready and also the kids (Dad goes to church at 7:45 for meetings) I have to get up no later than 7 - and we still end up rushing. (Guess I should get up a little earlier.) I really miss the lounging in bed - the only morning Kannon I had to do that. I also miss being able to go over my lesson one more time on Sunday mornings. On the other hand, Sarah's doing much better being able to take a nap in the afternoon. And I get a nap, too! The first couple of weeks, my naps were about 4 hours long! That just blows me away - but, remember I am pregnant. I did better this last week - only 1 1/2 hours. These pics are from a few weeks ago. I woke up and found the household asleep.

This is my hunny - hard at work. I guess this is what he does every day.

So, yesterday I had to go to the grocery store (aka Walmart). I knew it would be best to get it done before Kannon got home, before dinner, before Family Home Evening. So, I braved the day and took the kids with me. I decided to dress a little and wore cute heeled shoes with my jeans. I don't think that would have been a problem at all - except, Ben decided to look at the toys to spend his money on. We all got money from Grandpa Wadlow and his was burning a hole. Well, that part of the trip took too long. Finally, we did the grocery part, and by the end my feet were hurting, the kids were not being obedient, they were fighting with each other and I was hungry, tired and cranky.

So, I decided I needed some flowers. It's not something I do often. I wish we had enough money to have Kannon buy them for me, or get them delivered as a surprise, or whatever. As it is, I sometimes splurge and spend a little on Walmart's discounted fresh flowers. That means they are cheaper (I paid $7.50 for a dozen and 4 sprays of minis) but they won't last as long. I will enjoy them as long as they do last.

I also found these - my favorite candy bar. I don't know why, but it's not often that I will see them. Not every store carries them, and often the stores that I've found them in don't always have them. Whenever Kannon finds one he'll bring one home to me. Well, Walmart had them yesterday at the checkout. I bought 3 of them - who knows when I'll find them again! I only ate half of one yesterday. I actually stuck them in the freezer so I'd have time to decide if I really wanted it while it defrosted. These are so yummy - here's the description for those who've never had one: CARAMEL, PEANUT and ALMOND Nougat covered with WHITE FUDGE. I think I fell in love with these when I was nursing and couldn't have chocolate. These didn't seem to have the same effect on the baby.

So, my next post is the 100th. I'm trying to come up with something

good to blog about. Any ideas?

What I did about the blueberries.

Okay, so a lot of you have asked "what DID you do?"
On Saturday morning I had washed a few blueberries and left them in the strainer on the counter. It wasn't long before Sarah grabbed the strainer and pulled it down. She's done that before, but for some reason, this time, she spilled the blueberries. I said, "Oops, let's pick those up." She said, "no" and left the room. My first thought was to make her come back and do it, but I've been trying something new. I want her to be the one who decides to obey. I know that's what we all want from our children. So, I told Kannon, "we don't do anything for her until she picks up the blueberries." I was in the kitchen working so I had to do a lot of tip-toeing. After a few hours, I'd had enough. I'd run out of patience waiting. So, I took her to the kitchen and told her to pick them up. She just stood there. She did get spanked. I probably got a little too loud. If I took her hand and took it to the blueberry, she'd pick it up. But, as soon as I let go of her, she would just drop her hand. Finally, I blocked the kitchen doorway and left the room. She ended up with a poopy diaper along the way. I told her we'd change it when she'd picked up the blueberries. She still refused. Eventually, she said, "it hurts." And that's when I was about to give in. But, I said one more time, "I'll change you as soon as you pick up the blueberries." AND SHE DID! So, I got the end result, but at what cost? I'm still not sure that's the right way to do this. I know that for us, right now, time outs just aren't working. I'm too cranky to be patient enough to put her back every second - she won't stay there. Ben hits and kicks when I try to use the naughty spot, so we take away his tv/computer/wii minutes. That works for him - but she's not ready for that. So, I'm still open to suggestions. And I hope you don't think I'm an awful mother for making her wear her dirty diaper for awhile.
This has worked for me other times. Like this morning. She wanted me to make breakfast, but I'd asked her to put away her dirty clothes. So, I told her I would make breakfast when she took care of the clothes. It didn't take very long before she did that all on her own. My mom suggested taking the time to talk to her and find out why she doesn't want to do things - let her know why I need her to do them, and offer to help. My mom often reminds me to do what the Savior would do, and that has really helped me a lot in the discipline area. No one said being a mother was easy - but then, I never heard anyone say how hard it is, either!

What would you do?

Your 2 1/2 year-old accidentally drops a small bowl of blueberries on the

floor and refuses to pick them up. What do you do?

coming soon - what we actually did

January begins

We weren't sure what to do for New Year's Eve. There is always a big dance for the two stakes here. But, we have such issues finding babysitters. We had thought about having some friends over for games - but the first one I called said she'd thought we were going to the dance and had invited some over for games already, then invited us. I thought that would be fun and my mom thought she and dad could watch the kids. But, dad didn't want to. It all worked out in the end. For me anyway. Kannon ended up working on New Years Day. So, he stayed home and I went to the game party. We only played one game, then visited til about 1 am. It was perfect for me. I was pretty darn tired though. It feels like I'm more tired every day. I keep falling asleep on the couch at night.

I got to go to lunch with one of my best friends! That doesn't often (okay EVER) happen. Kannon's not home at lunch time and I have 2 kids and no money. But, she had her boys watch the kiddos and took ME to lunch for my birthday. It was so nice. Then, we ran a few errands together. It was a great two hours. The picture is of me the day of our lunch. With one of my great after Christmas bargains. I found the jacket for about $8 - it's exactly what I'd been looking for. When Kannon saw me he asked if I was trying "to be some hip-hop.....person?" I think I'm just trying to find stylish-but-look-good-on-a-fat-person clothes. I THINK this picture makes me look disproportionate (a huge body and small head), but I like the way it fits me. What do you think? And don't worry about hurting my feelings! My actual response to Kannon was "just admit it - you think I'm one hot mama!" And that's my new haircut without being straightened.

I was going to title this post "I'm 55!" but that number changed today. You see, on the Wii sports there is a fitness age test you can do. After my first test I was 55. Today I took it again and brought it down to 31. I'll have to see how young I can get! But, in reality, I did hit 33 this week. I had a pretty relaxing day. Chose not to do laundry or dishes. I made crepes for breakfast (Sarah kept whining for grapes, and I told her we didn't have any - she wanted me to go to the store. It wasn't until a bit later that I figured out she was talking about the crepes I was supposed to be making.) I got a few birthday phone calls in the morning and that put off our breakfast til almost 10:30! My visiting teachers came by with some sweet gifts and a nice visit. It was really nice around 4 when I realized I didn't have to worry about dinner at all! My mom made a tortellini dish for us. We went out there to eat. I had spent the afternoon scrapbooking a new calendar for her. I'll have to get a few pictures of some of them. It was fun - then I ran out of tape. I was surprised when my brother, his wife, and her mother showed up, too. They brought me flowers and Nate had a few things to add to my camera. I got some fun goodies from Kannon and the kids - a brush, shower gel, gum, handtowels.....and a coupon for a night or day on the town, including the temple. My mother outdid herself. Not only did she make my dinner, she also bought me a coffee table (the week before) felt bad that I brought my own ice cream, bought me a box full of great ornaments for my tree next year (I finally decided how to decorate it, since the kids will have their own), got me another knife for my Cutco collection (that makes 3) and said there's one more gift on the way! Wow! Kannon and the kids had made my cake for me - I'd requested a carrot cake, with cream cheese frosting. They weren't too thrilled and said they were going to make another cake for them to eat. It's my birthday! You'll eat what I pick! JK They didn't make another cake and even ate some of the carrot one.

So, then we got to have our night out on the town, the next day. I had already asked my mom to watch the kids - I had a dentist appt. and I was planning on meeting Kannon for an early dinner. But, turns out he had the day off (in between jobs - only 2 days this time). So, we made the whole day of it. We met Nate and Jackie for lunch at Olive Garden - I think I prefer Macaroni Grill. Then stopped at a few stores, looking for cheap snow boots for the kids. We didn't find any. Then I had my cleaning, where the hygenist was ticked the whole time because it's been a few years since I've been in. Ugh. I'm tired of that dentist office - I mean really! You're getting paid! Just do your job and leave me be! After that we headed to the temple where we met N & J again. We went through the first session in there for 2009. They were the first witness couple of the year and I was the first one through the veil. Of course that's not something to brag about - I just thought it was kind of interesting. So, it was fun to have a full day with just my husband - and we didn't even fight. Ya know what's even better? The kids were good for my mom. And they had a great day, too.

It's time for me to finally get here again! I got this started on the 4th - today is actually the 8th. So, for the commentary. We headed to Elko on Christmas Eve - early in the am - like 4:00 early. Kannon wanted to make it in time for breakfast. Basically, I did some fun shopping over the whole weekend. Got some really great deals before and after Christmas. We just had a good Christmas Eve. This is the first round of "Bingo for Prizes". My mother-in-law had a ton of fun prizes for all ages. So, I played too.

This is Christmas Eve dinner. There were 18 of us there for the weekend - this is everyone but Kannon who took the picture. Although 2 of them must have been out of view. Oh well. We also did the gift exchange that night. I stayed up forever. I was so tired. We were waiting for the kids to go to bed. My mil got us a hotel room for two nights, she was taking care of the kids for the night. But, I still wanted to put out the Santa stuff. Anyway, we finally left and went to sleep. Then got up early (5 am) to straighten my hair - I went to bed with it wet, it was scary! I wanted to make sure we didn't miss the kids waking up.

We got Sarah this huge pop-up castle tent - it was a lot bigger than we thought. And this is her cute princess crown - that totally sucked. It doesn't stay on her head at all - came with earrings that broke immediately - at least the ring survived!

And Ben with his long-awaited camera. He had it picked out a long time ago - helped me do a survey about the cameras. This was his favorite.

Then it was breakfast and later the free-fest of unwrapping. I really enjoy taking time to appreciate each gift. But, everyone else felt like it would take too long.

I'm not sure if this was Christmas Day or the day after. The A. kids got sleds and their daddy hooked one up to Daisy, the dog. She loved pulling them around the driveway. Sarah was brave for a few feet, then wanted off. Ben finished her turn.

We also spent a lot of our evenings enjoying our new Wii. We bought it back in October via craigslist - and got a great deal. Then when Kannon had some special money he got the new Guitar Hero for his Santa gift. So, this is Kannon with his brother and sister. I felt like it was harder than Rock Band and the guitar is messed up - you can only strum up. We'll have to get that fixed soon. By the way, I got a great purse for my Santa gift. I haven't had a purse for at least 7 years. I found this miche bag that is so great. You can check it out here http://www.4miche.com

My mil is so great with the kids. At first I was thinking this was a picture of them eating cereal before bed - which is a common idea there. But, then I remembered that they had ice cream sundaes. M-i-l got sick from hers - turns out she used the last of the vanilla that had been microwaved previously. Apparently that's not too good on the tummy. As for my tummy, it wasn't too bad. I actually felt great for one whole day. The rest of the time was so-so.

On that Saturday, Kannon went out with his brothers to shoot guns. He was trying to sight in his brothers shotgun when he got "scoped". He didn't have the butt in his shoulder and the scope smacked him right in the nose. He says it's still pretty sore. I didn't think it ever looked too bad. Healed pretty quickly. I don't think he'll make that mistake again! And I don't know if I'll ever venture to use a gun with a scope either. We'll see.

They ended up cancelling church because of the snow. There were quite a few storms that went through while we were there. We were a little anxious about our drive home, but felt blessed to have perfectly clear roads the whole way.