Have You Ever Said That?

Anita Renfroe sums up all the things that a mother says to her children in a three-minute song called "Momisms" set to the William Tell Overture.



"Were you born in a barn? Would you like some hay?"

"It must be your Father's DNA!"

Love it! :)

No More Naked Ladies

I was sick of seeing so much nudity lying around our house....

And because I happen to own no fewer than 30 bottles of nail polish.....

PROBLEM SOLVED!

:)

(my girls actually were thrilled with the results!)

Good-Bye 2011

We're not just saying, "Good-Bye" to another year.
There were A LOT of THINGS we said, "Good-Bye" to, also during 2011...to be left behind - maybe for forever?

Good-Bye to most our other board games...
Ticket to Ride now trumps you all! It seems to be the only one we get out for Family Game Night anymore.

Good-Bye to wearing a COAT to keep warm for this teenager....
a hoodie (especially a U of U one) WITH SHORTS is good enough, he claims!

Good-Bye to the little, itty, bitty bike days for Haylee.

Good-Bye Braces!!!
{Aaaahhh}

Good-Bye to ever trying to go on a "Family Vacation" to somewhere like....say, BOISE, ID!
{Cancun ruined that chance!}

Good-Bye to the days with my Primary children
~ I was released from the Primary Presidency after serving for 2 years, 8 months. :(
Ironically, some of these "children" in this photo (from several yrs. ago) are now in the Young Women/Young Men's program of which I am a part of now -- but they're hardly recognizable!

Good-Bye to having multiple children at home during the school day.
Miss B had to say Good-Bye to all her older siblings this school year. :(
It's just me and "B" all alone during the weekdays. I've NEVER experienced that before this year!

Good-Bye to Lily, the hamster - may she R.I.P.....about four (+) times this year...
but then she was located again. Currently, she is found.

Good-Bye to her days of merely being a Soccer Spectator.
Katelyn has now taken the field!

Good-Bye to his pride.
Ryan will do just about anything to earn a paycheck.
{This "gig" was complete with kids trying to pull his hair (feathers?) and kick him in the bum (tail?) all night long...all while being trapped in this Eagle suit that emitted the most potent odor (from multiple uses and no washings - it is property of the City) - it could cause a goldfish to turn belly-up ! Seriously. Our home reeked!}

Good-Bye to diapers!!!
{The 6th diapered bum in the photo represents my niece who I provided Day Care for during her diaper-clad days.}
I had been doing diapers over the last 15 years, 9 months for all my children -- with literally only a SMALL 8 month break during 2007-08. (I realized that's nothing compared to the Duggar's, but that's beside the point! It was PLENTY for me!)
It is with great pleasure that I now say Good-Bye to this chapter of my life!!!

Good-Bye to half (well, too many) of the shingles on my roof...
In the worst wind storm (120+ mph) I've ever experienced.
{We're "in line" to get an entire new roof - along with everyone else and their dog!}

Good-Bye Elementary School.
Kyle graduated from 6th Grade.
{Do you like his "dressed up"?}

And subsequently, said Good-Bye to Primary at church as well.
{And was ordained to the office of a Deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood.}

Good-Bye to being considered a "young" Adult for Matt.
{As "educated" by one of our 17 yr. old youth last night at Mutual, 40's are "OLD" - but not yet "SUPER OLD" like he referred to a different age group as.}

Good-Bye to my hourglass figure! :)
{ummm...so maybe that didn't happen in 2011....more like 1990...?}

Good-Bye to my traditional Christmas Card SHRINE.
The Holiday Decor is ALL cleaned up!
Can you see YOUR card up there?
If not, why didn't you send me one?!? ;)

With all these "GOOD-BYE's" in 2011 - there's nothing left for us in 2012, right? ;)
{HA! The only thing that's constant is change, huh?!?}

Although....we ARE hoping for at least one more.....
Here's hoping (& praying) that we will say, "Good-Bye" to our current home -- by way of selling it - FINALLY!

Kids Say the Darndest Things - Dec. '11 Edition

Taken from the sidebar...


While Katelyn was opening Christmas presents from Santa.....
Everyone: "Woooow!"
Katelyn: "Santa's a NICE GUY!" 12/11


Haylee was talking at the dinner table about a boy named Eli,,,,
Ryan: "Who's Eli?"
Haylee: "My ex-boyfriend."
Me: "Do you even know what an 'ex-boyfriend' is?"
Haylee: "Yesss....it is your old boyfriend, then you broke up and get a new boyfriend."
Kyle: "Do you have a new boyfriend?"
Haylee: "Umm, yes."
Ryan: "And what exactly does a 'boyfriend' mean in 4th Grade?"
Haylee: "When I see him, my brain goes, 'BAH DA BOOOM!" 12/11



Matt: "Did you have a nap today, Brookelle?"
Brookelle: "Yes. In Mommy's bed."
Matt: "What about me? Don't you think it's MY bed?"
Brookelle: "Well, Mommy and Daddy's bed is hooked together!" 12/11


Brookelle has been potty training, so there has been MUCH talk about pee and poop and going in the RIGHT spot. Miss B was using her little potty in the bathroom, and Kyle was having a bathroom emergency of his own - he couldn't wait for the bathroom to become vacant. He just went into that same bathroom and went in the regular toilet - next to Miss B....
Brookelle: (witnessing the whole episode) "That was a GOOD pee, Kyle!" 12/11


We have one sink in our master bathroom that has some plumbing problems, so we turned it off completely. Miss B wanted to wash her hands there....
Me: "That one doesn't work, you can't use it."
Brookelle: "It doesn't work?"
Me: "Nope."
Brookelle: "Let me see."
So I turned the faucet handle and showed her that no water came out...
Brookelle: "Oh, It needs new batteries." 12/11


Our family was getting on an elevator, but some were SLOW and the door was starting to shut.....
Brookelle: "HURRY! Get in the alligator!" 12/11


I showed Miss B a few of Matt's photos from his teen years.....
Me: "Brookelle, who's this?"
Brookelle: (looking hard....but silent....no recognition shows on her face....can't come up with an answer)
Me: "It's Dad!"
Brookelle: "I don't like THAT Dad!" 12/11


Brookelle walked into the bathroom when I had a tampon in my hand....Brookelle: "What's that for?"
Me: (Silence)
Brookelle: "Is that for wiping your bum?"
Me: "Something like that."
But not wanting her to mess around with them, I decided to give a warning....
Me: "They're not for little kids."
Brookelle: "Ohhh, they're for wiping MOM'S bums only, right Mom?"
Me: "That's right." 12/11

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

From our Family to Yours.....

Since Christmas was on a Sunday this year, we went to church as part of our Christmas Day festivities. It only seems appropriate since CHRIST IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON.

I had actually wondered if we would have a very full congregation since it would be hard for people to start, then stop the gift opening on Christmas morning to get ready and go to church. But, I walked into the chapel and it was packed with people - fuller than normal - with lots of visiting family & friends! That made me so happy right from the beginning!

AND THEN.....for the opening hymn, "JOY TO THE WORLD" had been chosen. Instead of just the organ for accompaniment as we normally have in church, another sister joined in on the piano for a duet, playing a different arrangement than is in the regular hymnal. YOU SHOULD'VE HEARD THE FIRST NOTES OF THE INTRODUCTION!!! It was so lively, robust, energetic, dynamic.....POWERFUL!!! Immediately, the Spirit of the Holy Ghost surged through my body and my eyes teared up. I doubted I'd be able to even sing when the Chorister directed us to start. But, YOU SHOULD'VE HEARD THE VOLUME THAT CAME FROM THE CONGREGATION!!! EVERYONE (and then some!) must've been singing in their fullest, most impressive voices. I'd never heard (& felt) the music just enveloping me like that in our chapel. (It gave new meaning to "Angels We Have Heard on High!") It was the most exciting and fitting way to begin our Christmas Day church services.


P.S. I can't turn off the italics for this post! (???)

An Early Christmas Gift to Me

She did it!

BYE-BYE DIAPERS. HELLLOOOO PANTIES!

She already lost her Squinkies!

High School Flashback

Yesterday we were given four [FREE] tickets to last night's Christmas Concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square. With actress Jane Seymour and opera star Nathan Gunn as guest performers.

SCORE!

An instant [FREE] date. To an amazing event. Right?!?

AND since we had 4 tickets, we could invite another couple to double date with us!

GREAT!

Well, we asked some friends to go with us, and they declined. It was their goldfish's birthday.

So, we invited some other friends. They couldn't. That was the night they were reorganizing their rock collection.

And then we proceeded to invite EIGHT other friends also.

And NONE of them could go!

Yep! We invited 10 different couples in all to go with us...and ALL of them turned us down!

Because.....

They were watching the grass grow.
They had to wash their hair.
They had to check the freshness dates on their dairy products.
They had to take out the trash.
They had some real hard words to look up in the dictionary.
None of their socks matched.
There are important world issues that needed worrying about.
and
Their favorite commercial was on T.V.

Man....rejected 10 times in one day! Should this send us (me) spiraling down into High School insecurities land again?
We must be so VERY unpopular!
{But, my teenage son has been trying to tell us that for years!} ;)

But, I'm telling you....THEY MISSED OUT!!!

There was fake snow that fell, flashing lights, prancing reindeer being spotlighted on the floor, mood lighting, the story of Good King Winceslas being told in the lovely British accent of Jane Seymour, three costume changes by Jane (I feel like we're on a first name basis now!), the most delightful song arrangement of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" sung by Mr. Gunn complete with "hoof" and other sound effects made by the percussion section, snow-smocked Christmas trees, castle backdrops, dancers, multi-colored techno light show that blinked to the beat/swells of the music, etc. All followed by a standing ovation that lasted more than 5 minutes. The guest stars left the stage and came back on again when the clapping did not cease!!

It had the power to cause me to forget (at least for the hour and a half duration of the show) my friend brush-off woes! :)

Matt, the eternal optimist, says it MAY have had more to do with the fact that it was last minute and that they already had plans, i.e. parties, celebrations, events, games, had tickets to the concert for another day, etc. :)

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Colder Weather = Exercise Conundrum

Because WHO wants to go run/walk when it's a WHOPPING 16 degrees outside? Not me.
In my driving around town lately, I passed a fitness gym, and on their marquee it read,
"The average person gains 10 pounds between Halloween and New Year's."
{yikes!}

And since I don't belong to a Gym....
And Jack Frost has made himself known....

Does this count?
JUST DANCE on the Wii
I'm saying it does.
Because that's what we've been doing.
And for the record...."Eye of the Tiger" is MY SONG....as visions of ROCKY dance through my head -- no one can beat my at that!

Uh oh...not a good sign when both competitors are NOT doing the same dance move....one must be getting a "GREAT" while they other is getting an "X"

Dancing or imitating gorillas?

It must count because it sure works up a heart rate!
Afterwards, I'm wet with SWEAT!

And from tears of laughter!

And from peeing my pants!

Hahahaha! :)

TMI?

Capitalizing on the Misfortunes of Others

We must've had a HUGE windstorm RIP through these parts last week....

Because my front door has been covered with these fliers ever since! :)
And our neighborhoods are being dotted with election candidate-type signs stuck in the grass on every corner from other "concerned" companies.

(Their "marketing strategy" has worked - I've personally called several of them for a bid!)

Our damage?

• Tons of shingles - GONE! In fact, our home was getting pummeled by the shingles flying off our neighbors' to the east.

• Siding ripped off the side of our home - or disfigured if it managed to stay on.

• A cracked window. It happens to be the Master Bedroom window - and our bed is right beneath it. As I lay there in the middle of the night AWAKE because of the HOWLINGS & WHOOSHINGS of the wind, I had visions of the window crashing in on my head/face.

• A broken deck (it was swaying in the wind!)

This type of thing does WONDERS for trying to sell a home, I'm sure! ;)

Before and After

My husband has had a HUGE BEEF about my oldest son's hair lately. And, uncharacteristic for Matt, he hasn't been quiet about it, either! Any chance he could, he'd "trash talk" his hair. Often while sitting in church as a family, I'd notice Matt's gaze going down our pew. I'd follow that gaze of his and find it resting on his firstborn son, and THEN when he caught the eye of Ryan, he'd just shake his head and accompany it with his best disapproving look. To which, Ryan would respond by taking a comb out of his pocket and, dramatically, with a sweeping motion, combing his mane into the perfect, feathered look again [with a smirk on his face.] For Ryan, it seemed to be a great source of joy to irritate his dad in this way! ;)

Have I piqued your curiosity yet about this unruly, intolerable hairdo, that is the cause of such great disgust with his father, that Ryan is sporting as of late?

Here's a sneak peak.

Right out of the 70's: The "butthead" part with the feathered back look,
going past the ears AND the collar.

Oh, here, I think this is where he found his "inspiration."

Right out of The Partridge Family!

To me, as his Mom, I don't even think it's that bad -- so, I don't even worry about it. It's ONLY hair! There are definitely much greater battles worth fighting than HAIR! And because of that, Ryan didn't even put forth the effort to perform his sleek, hair styling show with me if I was his only audience. He DID find great amusement when, he had put some hair elastics in his longest tresses to make some tiny ponytails, and when Miss B saw him, she declared loudly, "Ryan, YOU A GIRL!!!"

Matt would continually ask him WHEN he was going to get his hair cut. A while back, Ryan came up with the date of November 18th for some reason, (in celebration and/or respect for reading the entire Book of Mormon in a weekend? Or was it because the SportClips [his favorite place to get a haircut] coupon expired that day?) So Matt eagerly awaiting that date. Well, 11/18/11 came and went and NO hair cut....you see, Ryan had a new reason for not cutting it now. At some unknown date in the future, for his Drama class at school, he has to do a performance depicting Flynn Ryder, from the movie, "Tangled" and he claims he "needs" THE HAIR to help him "get into character." (He does have a good point - he must also be taking a Debate class! Sounds good to me!)

But, to Matt, he can't see the reasoning at all! Which is why Ryan loves to talk about this impending performance with the ever elusive date, that Ryan just can't quite "recall", so his Dad can squirm and let his hair-hating attitude fester within him! (Gotta love teenagers! :))

The thing that puzzles me so much about Matt's reaction to THE HAIR is that HE has NO ROOM TO TALK!!!! I mean, in HIS youth, he had THE WORST HAIR EVER! It was really bad. We're talkin' it was so bad, that IF I would've have known him then....we would not be married now! (Because I would've written him off so fast.....)

Have I piqued your curiosity about Matt's unruly, intolerable hairdo of his past?

Here's a sneak peak:

Do you need another look?

And another?

Now tell me....does the word, "hypocrite" come to anyone's mind?!?
This sums it up: when Miss B sees these pictures of Matt (and I HAVE TO inform her it is her Dad because she doesn't even know) she says, "I don't like that Dad!"

Sooooo......THE HAIR banter has been going back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth.

One day, we got an idea! Recently, my son and I went on a little "outing."

This is what he looked like when we left our home. (the "Before")

....And this is what he looked like when he came back (the "After"):

And when Matt first laid eyes on him, Ryan said, "MERRY CHRISTMAS, DAD!"

(and he was greatly pleased)

(Way to show me up in the Christmas present department. My gift to Matt will surely pale in comparison!)