Miss B slept for 12 hours last night!!!

(12 hrs. AND 5 min. to be exact.)

We've been working towards this goal for a LONG time!

(11 months AND 4 days to be exact.)

So, WHY am I still tired?

Kids Say the Darndest Things - April Edition

Taken from the sidebar...

Haylee: "I wish I had a Mom who did not yell."
Me: "I wish I had kids who obey."
Haylee: (silenced) 4/09

Instead of saying, "I hate_____" Katelyn says, "I don't love _____." (i.e. "I don't love snails." "I don't love cleaning my room." "I don't love milk on my cereal.") I do have to agree it IS a more positive spin on the undesirables!
Katelyn: "Can I go get something at the snack shack?"
Me: "Sit in your chair for 5 minutes first."
Katelyn: "Is 5 minutes a long time?"
Me: "Yes."
Katelyn: "Ooohhh!" (groaning)..."Just like my birthday [in Nov.] and I JUST DON'T LOVE long times!" 4/09

Katelyn: "I love to go to beaches."
Me: "In Hawaii?"
Katelyn: "Is Hawaii in our world?"
Me: "No."
Katelyn: "Do we have beaches in our world?"
Me: "Well...maybe the Great Salt Lake is kind of a beach." Then under my breath, "but it's not so good."
Katelyn: "Is it cold?"
Me: "Yes."
Katelyn: "And Hawaii is warm?"
Me: "Yes."
Katelyn: "OK - I want to go to the beach OUT OF OUR WORLD!" 4/09

These are a Few of My Favorite Things (Part 3)

**Are you feeling like the commercial..."But, wait! There's more!!" (?)

Kleenex with Lotion

Especially during this lovely Allergy (sniff, sniff) time of year! I have to keep reminding Katelyn, these are NOT the ones to use for squishing (then flushing) unwanted spiders in our home!

Norman Rockwell

(The Art, not the Man!)

It's all about OUR lives!
I could look at them again & again!
Ya gotta LOVE this one...


And this one...

And how about this one?

This one just makes ya go, "Aaaaahh!"


My Mom has a couple of big Norman Rockwell "coffee table" books.
Perusing through them as a youngster started my love affair w/ Norman.
I call "dibs" on those books! I'm SO inheriting them! SORRY, bruthas & sistas! :)

LIVE Theater/Broadway Shows



Saw this one in Vegas at the Mandalay Bay BEFORE they took it away!
Dancin'-in-the-aisles good time!
Anyone have some suggestions for my NYC vacation in the Fall?


Sandals
(this is different from my flip-flops of a previous TAAFOMFT post)


Sandals allow me to slip into them QUICK, ditch the socks, and they're CUTE - what more can I ask?Should I get these?


Or how about these?
Or these?



Cleaning Wipes




I'm not partial to any particular brand - they can be Clorox, Kirkland, or "no-name," too - I don't care!
Somehow, my family can clean better with them (as opposed to a regular wash cloth & cleaning solution) and that's what I care about! :)



Little League Baseball



{And as you can tell, it's one of Kyle's favorite things, too!}

Of all the sports my family plays - THIS IS THE BEST to watch!
**Notice, I said, "Baseball" NOT "T-Ball" which I can't stand! That's too painful to watch!**
Soccer? It's alright. (I very well may be disowned by the Brenchley's for revealing that, but I cannot tell a lie!)
Basketball? I could get more excited about that when the players get good.
Football? I can't ever keep track of where the heck the ball is.
Dancing? We haven't experienced that, yet. Next year.
We seriously have 5 baseball games a week right now. Sometimes multiple games a night. And in a couple of weeks, all 3 kids have a game on the same night (on different fields) which should be FUN. But, I will enjoy watching them all!




Another treaure that tells the story of our lives!
Here's one of my favorites:





Silicone
~cooking utensils, that is! ;)

A friend gave me one of these wrapped up darling for a birthday gift once -

And I L.O.V.E. it. I'm always glad when it's clean & I can use it!

It's so forgiving when I place it on the hot stove (by mistake) unlike my Tupperware, plastic crock pot lid (X2), and cookbooks! ;D

Fuzzy Socks

You may think I'm contradicting myself with this and my sandals. These babies are for colder temps (which are teasing us w/ it's coming & going lately). I wear them IN & AROUND the house (and sometimes out & about without realizing it!)

Post-it Notes

Especially these specialty shaped ones. This star was stuffed into my Christmas stocking one year & it's just delightful!

Such Confusion

When I was a little girl, there were certain things that my Mom taught so strongly or was so adamant about, that I seriously thought they were part of our religion - one of the commandments.

So, as I saw people whom I went to church with doing some things that were not in accordance with what I had heard so often from my Mom, I really worried about their "Salvation" and that they did not want to be a part of our church anymore.

As you can imagine, so great was the confusion in my young mind as to who was doing right or wrong. It was MANY YEARS later that I finally realized that these were merely her opinion and NOT necessarily "gospel." Yet, to this day, when I go against anything on "the list," a part of me still feels like a bit of a rebel! (Let's just say I'm not going to let her know about those details of my life!)

THE LIST:

1. You HAVE to watch Channel 5 [KSL] news. (The actual reason behind this was that my Aunt, her sister, was a Producer at KSL & wanted to support her station.)
2. You do NOT wear bikinis.
3. You HAVE to wear a slip when wearing dresses or skirts.
4. You do NOT drink Coke or other pop with caffeine.
5. You do NOT use any other brand of mayo besides Best Foods. (And definitely never Miracle Whip!)
6. You do NOT play with face cards ~ but it's OK to substitute ROOK cards for any game normally played with face cards.
7. You NEVER get an Artificial Christmas Tree ~ only 1+ REAL ones.
8. Moms HAVE to breastfeed their babies.
9. The milk jug is NEVER allowed on the dinner table! (You have to pour the milk into a pitcher if you want it on the table).
10. You MUST memorize your talk for church.
11. NO MORE THAN 2 people are allowed to jump on the trampoline at once.
12. You should NOT get divorced.
13. REAL mashed potatoes are the ONLY way to go ~ Instant are a disgrace!
14. Moms & women over a certain age should NOT have long hair.
15. The Deseret News IS THE UTAH newspaper. (The "Tribune" was practically a swear word!)
16. Moms should NOT work.
17. Sunday Dinner IS a big, fancy meal. (Spaghetti would be OUT of the question!)

So, if that little girl (my younger self), in all her misunderstanding, were to look at someone like ME (my current self) NOW....Oh, boy! Would she ever be stressing about my spiritual well-being! Excommunication would be inevitable! :)

Lightening Doesn't Strike Twice

APRIL 2008

6 FOR 6 WINNERS.

$460.00 TOTAL CASH PRIZE.

APRIL 2009

3 OUT OF 6 WINNERS.

$45 TOTAL CASH PRIZE.

We're all a little depressed about the outcome of this year's Annual Credit Union Meeting.

Especially since we decided ahead of time that from now on all the winnings would be deposited into a "Disney Cruise Fund." (I guess we got too cocky!)

Our "contribution" from tonight will cover ONE person about 1/4 of the first day - and then they'll have to "jump ship!"

Boo, hoo, hoo! :(

Who are You? (Imagine the CSI theme song by The Who playing in the background)

stalk'er, noun

someone who follows, creeps up on, or sneaks about; usually with unlawful intentions [syn: prowler]

stalk, verb

1. To pursue by tracking stealthily.
2. To follow or observe (a person) persistently, especially out of obsession or derangement.
3. To go through (an area) in pursuit of prey or quarry.
synonyms: ambush, approach, chase, drive, haunt, hunt, pursue, shadow, striddle, tail, track, trail, walk up to


Out of curiosity, I put a counter on my blog last month. I noticed that it has now reached 1,000. Yet, I have not received 1,000 comments. So, who are these 1,000 people? Do I know you?

Should I be weirded out by this?

One of my associates who teaches courses on computer safety in the Elementary School answers this with a Resounding YES! She is STRONGLY recommending the "Private Blog" for me. But, truth be said - those BUG me...ya have to actually sign in - What a drag! (OK - How lazy am I?) Not to mention, ya can't ever tell when they've added something new! So, then you have to occasionally click on their link to check, and if there's NO update, I wasted a "click." And if there IS an update, I may be days late reading it & it's old news by then! - How lame is that! :)

So, the solution can be very simple...leave a comment :) and then I won't lose sleep about all those FREAKY stalker dudes! (Just like I said when I started blogging.)

Miss B is now 10 1/2 months old. Historically, by this point in time, I have been decreasing the number of nursing sessions a day - with eventual weaning being the object. NOT SO with her. I have been unable to decrease due to the fact that she threatens me by becoming a non-sleeper (nap time & nighttime). In fact, I have been going the other way, I'm afraid - I've been increasing thanks to our Spring Break travels. Being in a different crib and sleeping in the same room as us DOES NOT create a blissful, sleeping atmosphere! So, there was a whole lotta nursing going on trying to combat this.

My fear is she will never want to give it up. Of course, that was my fear with all the others, too, since they all L.O.V.E.D. it so much, but it happened! They were not as dependent on it for sleep, however.

I do have some deadlines to beat. I need to be done and have her be sleeping perfectly by our 15 year Anniversary vacation in September. If that happens, then she wouldn't have to come along on her siblings' Birthday Disneyland trips in the Fall, either. Also, is it too much to ask to maybe have this accomplished by early summer, so I can go on a Business trip with Matt? And so my summer tops will fit better? And so I can run/do Aerobics/train for the Aug. Triathlon without injuring myself? And so I can't be so easily identified by others upon just merely looking at me? ("Oh, yeah, she's definitely nursing!") And that maybe sometimes I could pull off NOT wearing a bra - without looking atrocious?...OK, that one probably IS asking too much! :)

This is where Matt's fear comes in...what is going to happen to the "sisters" when it's all OVER for good? Just how small & low can they go? :)

SEVEN is HEAVEN!

HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY, HAYLEE!!!

When I was thinking about Haylee turning 7 years old and about what I could do for "her post," I remembered the "7 Things Tag" I did a while back...and I thought it was fitting on this occasion. (I took the liberty of tweeking it a little since she's doesn't have a "significant other" nor does she have blogging friends to "tag.")

7 Things Haylee CAN do:

• Beat you in an "All-you-can-eat" OREO contest
• Sign Language
• Run FAST
• Grow long fingernails [6" as reported by Kyle] and use them on her brothers, if needed! :)
• Laugh easily/readily
• Become a "Bronzed Beauty" with just a little bit o' sun (I've been asked - by strangers - what nationality her father is!)
• Eat apples dipped in ketchup

7 Things Haylee CAN'T do:

• Throw anything away (she must be her Father's daughter!)
• Take "NO" for an answer - without a protest.
• Wait for the baby to wake up or to come home from school so she can see/hold Brookelle
• Eat most foods - without a protest.
• Resist walking in the snow [instead of on the shoveled sidewalks.]
• Take medicine - without a protest.
• Sleep in - or let anyone else do it, either!

7 Things Haylee thinks are awesome about her Family:

• Daddy gives her Piggy-back rides
• Mom makes the YUMMIEST [smacking her lips] rolls
• Ryan makes the best "Red Noodles"
• Kyle plays the "Horsey game" with her
• Katelyn lets her play with her princesses
• Brookelle smiles at her
• She REALLY wished Miss B came with a twin boy (Haylee says Jesus told her she would), but since she didn't, she's still looking forward to that baby brother. (WISH ON, girl!)
  
  

7 Things Haylee says most often:

• "Mom, I'm serious!"
• "Can I have some OREOS?"
• "I don't wanna_________[insert "go to bed," "do my homework," "clean up," etc.]
• "Can I play with a friend?"
• "KATELYN!!" (that's a scream)
• "What's for dinner?" and then whatever the answer is, "Darn it!"
• "I want Daddy..."

7 Celebrities Haylee admires:

• "Giselle" in Enchanted
• "Cindy" in The Brady Bunch (she must be her Mother's daughter!)
• "Darla" in Little Rascals
• "Gretl" in The Sound of Music
• "Daphne" in Scooby Doo
• "Sarah Baker" in Cheaper by the Dozen
• "Hero Girl" in The Polar Express

7 favorite foods:

• OREOS
• M & M's
• rolls
• Cookies 'n' Cream Ice Cream
• Nacho Cheese Doritos
• "Red Noodles" (beef flavored Ramen - the pkg. is red)
• Kristen G.'s French Toast, spiced butter, & famous syrup
  
  
  

WE LOVE YOU, HAYLEE!!!

Utah Census Form

1.__________________________(Given name)

2.__________________________(SURNAME)

3. Descendant of:
a. Brigham Young____
b. Heber C. Kimball____
c. Laman and Lemuel____
d. Cain____

4. Tribe of Israel:____________________

5. Number of occupants residing in home in each category:
(Listed in Chronological order)
a. Nursery____
b. Junior Primary____
c. Senior Primary____
d. Young Women's____
e. Young Men's____
f. Relief Society____
g. Elder____
h. Dearly Departed____
i. High Priest____

6. Occupation [Please select all that apply.]:
a. Amway dealer____
b. Shaklee dealer____
c. Nonie juice dealer____
d. NuSkin dealer____
e. Melaleuca dealer____

7. Automobile:
a. Station Wagon____
b. Van____
c. Suburban____
d. School Bus____
e. Double Decker____
f. BMW (Big Mormon Wagon)____

8. Favorite place to eat the night before Fast Sunday:
a. Chuck-A-Rama____
b. Hometown Buffet____
c. Sumo Sam's All You Can Eat Feeding Trough____

9. Favorite Hero:
a. Nephi____
b. Abinadi____
c. Samuel the Lamanite____
d. Steve Young____
e. Johnny Lingo____

10. Which of the following do you bring to church [check all that apply.]:
a. Scriptures____
b. Franklin Planner/Daytimer____
c. Pen/Pencil____
d. Lifesavers/Cheerios____
e. Tic Tacs____
f. Game Boy____
g. Big Gulp____
h. Cooler____
i. Sony Walkman____
j. TV Watch____
k. All of the above____

11. Do you prepare your church lessons:
a. A month in advance____
b. A week in advance____
c. While in the bathtub____
d. While on the toilet____
e. During Sacrament Meeting____
f. During the closing prayer of Sacrament Meeting____
g. During the opening prayer of the class you're teaching____
h. Just wing it [according to the promptings of the Spirit]____

12. Do you think pews should be permanently equipped with Big Gulp holders?:
yes____
no____

13. How many years has your family sat in the same place for Sacrament Meeting?:
a. 10-20 years____
b. 20-30 years____
c. 30-40 years____
d. Over 3 generations____

14. How much time does it take for you to fall asleep during a High Council talk?:
a. 1/1000,000,000th of a second____
b. 1/999,999,999th of a second____
c. 1/999,999,998th of a second____

15. Which day of the month do you go Home/Visiting Teaching?:
a. 31st____
b. 31st____
c. 31st____
d. 31st____

16. How many church basketball fights were you in last year?:
a. 1-10____
b. 10-20____
c. 20-30____
d. You'll have to ask my Lawyer____

17. Which of the following has been your most effective Family Home Evening?:
a. Arguing about getting along____
b. Having an opening and closing prayer with dinner____
c. Gathering around the television to watch, "Everybody Loves Raymond?"____

18. How many times a year do you make:
a. Green Jell-O salad____
b. Funeral potatoes____
c. Cabbage and Top Ramen salad____
d. Turkey, cashews and grape-stuffed croissants____

19. How many water-filled two-liter bottles do you own?:
a. 1-2 thousand____
b. 2-3 thousand____
c. 3-4 thousand____
d. Enough to fill the Great Salt Lake____

20. Which of the following do you feel is the most secure facility in the nation?:
a. Alcatraz____
b. Fort Knox____
c. Ward Libraries____

21. How many structural engineers do you hire annually to insure you'll win the Pinewood Derby?:____

22. Keeping the Word of wisdom in mind, how much of the following do you consume:
a. Chocolate:____pounds daily X 365 days annually = ____
b. Cola:____gallons daily X 365 days annually = ____

23. If you had to choose between witnessing the Second Coming or attending a BYU/U of U football game, which would you choose?
a. Second Coming____
b. Football game____


AMEN

The Power of Accountability

Last week I got curious.
I wondered about my eating. How bad was it? How good was it? Did I really want to know? YES! I decided I did.
My friend, Jill, (there - I dropped your name!) knows all about the nutritional value, points, calories, etc. of food, so I just told her I was going to write down everything I ate the next day and then show it to her to check.

And a very interesting thing happened...

The next day, I had some Easter candy in my cupboard that I'd been planning on eating. BUT, I didn't want to write it down that I ate it - so I didn't eat it! I showed my list to Jill that night and she said I was doing fine...but I was still curious - that was only ONE day.

I continued the day after that, too. I happened to go to Costco and, of course, they had 12 or so samples out - all of which I would've normally sampled. BUT, then I'd have to write down everything and that would make for a LONG list, and I did not want to do that - so I passed on the samples! I, again, showed my list to Jill - pretty good...but I was still curious - might as well keep going.

On Saturday, Matt asked if i wanted to go get a Blizzard with him at Dairy Queen (he had a B1G1 free coupon). I wondered what kind of impact that'd have on my daily caloric intake. I looked it up online. Are you ready for this? I checked out the Reese's PB cup blizzard since that's what I planned on ordering...

600 calories. 21 grams of fat. 87 grams of carbs (i.e. sugar)

And that was the SMALL size. No way was I going to write that down! That's all the calories of a meal. That's a whole days worth of fat. That's way too much sugar for an addict like me! Didn't go, didn't eat it, too disgusted to have that written on my list.

On Sunday, Matt made Chocolate Chip Cookies for some other families. They looked and smelled very good. The kids were swooning all around the kitchen at the leftovers. When he set aside some for us, I, again, thought about having to write it down. Instead of 11(+) cookies, I ate one that someone had already taken a bite out of - so, about two-thirds of a cookie. I could handle writing that down. 11+? Too appalling.

On Month End, Matt had to stay late at work, so he invited me to meet him for lunch (so we could at least see each other that day!) We went to Costa Vida. I always order the Fajita grilled steak salad. But, there's two sizes - large & small. Well, guess what? You got it - I didn't want to have to write down that I ate a LARGE one - how embarrassing! So, I ordered the small for the first time ever. And can I just say, it really is MUCH smaller. But, it was fine.

WAIT!...Does it sound like to you that Matt might be sabotaging me?!? :)

On Fast Sunday I made a mini-Thanksgiving meal for dinner. We had the Turkey, real Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Helen Goo's homemade rolls, Jamie's Thanksgiving casserole (vegetables)...Yummm! It really hit the spot for the fasters in my family! :) So much so that a lot of people were having 2nd & 3rd helpings...do you see where I'm going with this? That'd make me look like a PIG if I had to write down all those extra servings. No, not just LOOK - it'd be spelled out in black & white right in front of me - it WOULD be full-fledged PIG! So, I didn't.

So, last night I got curious again. It'd been a week since I'd been writing down everything I ate. Did it make a difference? Of course I wanted to know! So, I stepped on the scale....Oh, it made a difference, alright!

4.8 pounds, baby!

(loss, not gain, by the way.)

All because I wrote down everything that I ate. Who would've thought?