I've been tagged

Dianne tagged me on her blog, so I am playing along.

10 Years Ago: I was in school at the Univeristy of Alabama studying Music Therapy. I was also busy planning my wedding. I had been throwing newspaper for about 3 months and if anyone had told me we would still have a paper route 10 years later I would have never believed it. I think I was still driving my red Honda CRX and had my eye on a shiny new white Ford Ranger.

On My To-Do List: Today: Finish the taxes, find a couple of realtors to interview, laundry, print out March budget info, make dinner (beef enchiladas), load dishwasher, finish helping Payton plan the FHE lesson.

Before I die: Sell my house, take a family vacation to Disneyworld, finish my education, have a weekend getaway with Bryan (this would mean we didn't have the paper route,) give up the paper route, scrapbook all my pictures and have all my albums in order, buy Bryan his dream motorcycle

5 places that I've lived: Heidelberg, Germany; Mobile, AL; Tuscaloosa, AL; Taylorsville, UT; and Fort Rucker, AL

5 jobs I have had: Old Time Pottery, Hostess at Sweetpeas (I spent most of the time in the back rolling silverware because I didn't smile enought for them.) Cashier at Delchamps, Collections for Prime Option Mastercard, Newspaper Carrier

What I would do if I became a billionaire: Payoff debt and do other sensible things like put away for retirement and kids college. Then I would go a on a spending spree: buy Bryan a motorcyle and a 2008 ShelbyMustang GT with the Knight Rider package, write Bryan's two week notice letter for him, buy a houseboat and a hot air balloon (ain't that right, Lynne), go to culinary school, hire a masseuse and a maid, get a pedicure, build the house of my dreams that includes an awesome theater room, Bryan's "man-room," rooms for the kids decorated by Pottery Barn, and an off-the-hook scrapbook room, Have a backyard with tons of grass, a trampoline, a swimming pool, an awesome playground, etc. Take my whole extended family on a Disney Cruise. Take care of the financial needs of our family members. Bryan would probably want to buy a compound in some remote area in Wyoming and move away from everything for a while. I am game as long as there is running water, cable and a Wal-mart within a 15 minute drive.

Bad habits: Laughing at everything, correcting others' grammer and word usage when talking to people, being late for everything.

Things I enjoy: Chilling with Bryan after the kids go to bed, visiting Utah, learning something new, snuggling my kids, a good clean book, being caught up on the laundry

Things people don't know about me: I wish I were a really good cook (like Top Chef.) If I could be on any reality show, I would chose the Amazing Race. I iron everyday, and hate every minute of it. I've never ridden a horse, I hate seafood and chinese food. I am a tad-bit competitive when playing games.

Now it is your turn. I am tagging Andrea, Chelsea, Carly, Stacey, and Wendi (start a blog and get posting!)

Things that make my heart happy

It might sound a little cheesy, but I love to find the little things in life each day that bring a smile to my face. So here is my list:

*When my kids wake up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and hearing them flush and wash their hands.
*Walking passed the Half-price Hershey Easter Eggs at Wal-Mart and not buying any.
*Taylor and/or Payton making their bed without being told in the morning.
*Having my family ask for seconds at dinner.
*Hanging out on the front steps with Hayden after carpool every morning just to hear the different types of birds.
*Pushing myself to do another mile when I feel like my legs are about to give out.
*A phone call from a far away family member.
*People complimenting my children on their behavior.
*Meeting Bryan for lunch during the week.
*Hayden telling me she already knows that I love her and that she loves me as tall as the Eiffel Tower. (this is a pretty common conversation)
*Clorox wipes
*Clean Sheet Monday

That's all I have for right now. If you comment, tell me something small that makes you smile.

Last one until next year

These are the last pictures from Easter that I have. I love Easter because that's when we break out the spring dresses and white church shoes. It was a little chilly, but I still wanted some cute pictures of the girls. So after their fashion show, they stood still long enough for me to take three pictures. Here they are:
One day I will be able to take stellar photographs. But these will have to do for now. However, I don't need perfect photos to see how beautiful they are and to know what great girls they are.

Easter party #3

We had the best time at Grandma's house on Sunday. She had quite the spread for us. She had gotten three different kinds of chicken and every side imaginable. My favorite part was her famous cucumber salad. And she spoiled the girls with as many cookies and rice krispy treats as they could eat. We had a really great time just chillin around the table.

The girls tried to be patient while we finished eating so they could have an easter egg hunt. Grandma's yard is the best because there are actually places to hide the eggs. They waited while Bryan went outside to hide them, and Hayden kept peeking out the window so she could have a leg up on the competition. Even though she had seen some of the hiding spots, she needed help when she got outside. Jake was happy to help. Especially since I told him he could have whatever he wanted out of the eggs. Of course the kids were happy to share.

After hunting eggs, we sat out on the porch while Jake and the kids dug through them for the good stuff. The girls also enjoyed climbing the tree in the backyard while Jake and Bryan checked out Grandpa's old tools in the attic and shed. It was a great afternoon and a perfect way to spend Easter.

Easter morning

How does the Easter Bunny get in the house? That was the big question around our house on Saturday night. Hayden figured it was down the chimney like Santa. Payton figured it just came throught the front door. Taylor thought it was probably through the window like a robber. I was hoping to stay awake to found out. But I got too tired. He must of gotten in somehow because this is what we found on Sunday morning.




Payton didn't want to use her regular Easter basket. She wanted to use that purple one she caught at a Mardi Gras parade. She had been holding on to it for almost two months and was so happy to finally use it. There is no shortage of candy at our house now. And the Easter Bunny was nice enough to bring new toothbrushes to go with all that candy.

Easter party #2

After all the activities at the fairgrounds (see previous post) and sitting in traffic for an hour, we headed over to the Courtneys to continue the festivites. The dads hid all the eggs the kids had gotten earlier plus some more that I brought that were filled with the good stuff.
A few scraped knees and elbows later, the kids had found all the eggs and started checking out the loot. We had a nice laid back afternoon. Tammy had cooked quite a spread with quessadillas, enchiladas, tacos, chips and salsa, and strawberry shortcake. After we were all totally stuffed, we headed outside to dye eggs. Even though it makes a huge mess and everyone ends up with multi-colored fingers, I love doing this with the kids. No matter how old they get, or how many years we have done this, they still get so excited to see the eggs change colors.



Payton was the only one who couldn't wait to break open one of those bad boys and eat it. The others are still sitting in my fridge untouched. I think I will be making some deviled eggs today.

Easter party #1

On Saturday, we went with our friends the Courtneys to an Easter extravaganza at the fairgrounds. It was hosted by their old church but was free and open to the public. They had inflateables, a firetruck, McGruff, facepainting, a band, egg hunt, etc. We had to stand in line to get in because you had to register and get armbands for the kids to designate which age group they were supposed to hunt eggs with. (More on that in a minute.) After that, the lines got progressively longer at each thing. The weather was great and the kids were being good, so after standing in line for the picture with the Easter Bunny, we stood in line for face painting. Most of the booths were run by the teenagers from the church. Hayden wanted to be painted like a cat. And the girl painting her face said she couldn't do a cat, she could only do a bunny. In my nice mommy voice, I was like, "how about you paint her nose and give her some whiskers?" She said, yeah I can do that. That's a bunny. Of course Hayden keeps telling me she wants to be a cat. So I have to convince the four year old and the 14 yr old that it can be a cat or a bunny. Hayden got her nose and whiskers and proudly showed off her cat face.

After the face painting, we decided to stand in line at the inflateable obstacle course. Thirty minutes later we get to the front of the line and were told they were shutting down for a little bit so it could reinflate. When the teenagers running the thing realized we weren't leaving, they were a little quicker about getting it inflated. After that line, we stood in line for the giant slide. Thankfully, the dads were already holding a place for us. But has we get closer to the front, Tammy and I realize that there are tons of kids cutting in line. So we go up to the front, and using my nice mommy voice again, I ask the kid running it if he could please watch for the kids cutting in line. He just gave me this glazed over look. So I parked my big butt at the front of that line and put the smack down on any kid trying to cut. The worst part was the parents encouraging their kids to do it. There were some parents that thought I worked there and tried to tell me there were two lines. I, in the most non-confrontational way I could, said, um no their isn't and the end of the line is back there (as I point to the other side of the field.) The dads and kids got back in line to go a second time and Bryan said the line was moving much faster since I was "helping" at the front of the line. I am of the opinion that you should just act like you know what you are doing and people don't ask questions.

They finally had the Easter egg hunt/scramble/grab. The areas were roped of by age groups and eggs were just scattered everywhere. While everyone was waiting around, some kid thought it would be funny to yell go before it was time. So all these kids started running onto the field and it was all over from there. I did feel bad for the kids who missed out.

At this point they hadn't put the eggs out for Taylor's age group. So when it was time for her, all the kids who had missed out, and all the kids who had already hunted eggs came over to that area. It was total chaos.

It reminded me of Walmart the day after Thanksgiving.

This was the first year that this church did this, so they didn't know how many people to expect or how everything was going to turn out. The kids did have a really good time, with minimal whining and the weather was absolutley perfect. So overall, we had a pretty good time.

It finally happened

Hayden finally lost her first tooth last Thursday. My baby is growing up. She has spent the last couple of weeks trying to wiggle it out. And in her words, it finally "just fell out." But of course, the best part was finding that $5 bill under her pillow the next morning. She is already hoping for another tooth to come out because she is saving her money to buy another Webkinz.

One more before I go to bed

I have a ton of Easter pictures to post from our weekend long celebration. But I couldn't wait to post this little video. I have to apologize in advance for my stupidity. I was holding the camera sideways and I don't think there is anyway to change the orientation of a video clip. So you will have to watch this with your head sideways, but it is worth it.

Some families take cute pictures for Easter to show off the new clothes and remember the day. Not us, no, we are way to divalicious for that. Our girls didn't want to just take a picture. They wanted to put on a fashion show. So here it is:

Yes that is the church parking lot. I don't know if you can tell from the video, but they were taking this very seriously. In fact, Hayden informed me that she wants to be a model when she grows up. Too bad she's got the big-girl genes.

World class gymnasts

It was parent's day at gymnastics last Thursday. That just means it is the end of this session, so the parents get to come watch that day. So I finally brought my camera along to catch the girls in action. Hayden is in a class with 3-5 yr. olds. It is small but a little more chaotic becuase they are still trying to figure out that whole listening thing. Taylor and Payton have class after school with 5-8 yr. olds. It is a huge class this session but they still have enjoyed it.

Each class they spend time warming up and working on handstands. Then they rotate between bars, trampoline, mini-trampoline, and floor. They all really enjoy the trampoline. There are different routines for each level. It is always an exciting day when someone moves up to the next level. Taylor and Payton also enjoy the stretching at the end, because they can almost do the splits all they way. The classes aren't rigorous but it sure is an outlet for all their energy.

Thou shalt not steal

Everybody knows that Hayden enjoys getting into her sisters' things while they are at school. And last Tuesday was no different. I hear this strange shaking noise coming from Taylor's room and this is what I found:

Not only was she trying to get gum from Taylor's gumball machine, she was breaking into it to get a penny out to use. And as usual, when she got caught, she went on her merry way like nothing ever happened.

Ever have one of those days...

...when you can't wait for bedtime. I have -- a time or two, or a thousand. Well that was me, several nights ago. I had rushed to get the girls from gymnastics, finish making dinner, help the girls with their homework, then feed the hungry clan so I could meet Tammy at the park. After a sweaty 5.7 miles, I head home, jump in the shower, and get the girls ready for bed. I could hardly make it up the stairs, and all I wanted was to rush this bedtime extravaganza along. It usually involves prayers, a song, and tucking in for each girl. But I was all about skipping the songs for that night. But Hayden begged me for just one song. And also, could I rock her while I sing to her instead of just kneeling by her bed. So, as the phrase "man, I am nice" runs through my head, I haul my 45lb. "baby" into my lap in the rocking chair in her room. She asks for a primary song, then another. I was too tired to get up so I agreed. She wanted to hear "I Love to See the Temple." So I start singing, and she joins in. Then from the other rooms I hear the other girls singing along. It was beautiful. I was tempted to stop singing so I could just hear them. But, I knew if I stopped, they would stop, so I kept on. It was the best 2 minutes of my day. It was one of those moments, when you feel so blessed to be a mom of such great kids. A true tender mercy, for a tired mom.

Here we go again

I know it has been a while since I blogged, but better late, than even later, right? Things are pretty much business as usual around here. School, carpool, laundry, dishes, more laundry, more dishes, cleaning up toys, homework, gymnastics, church, meetings, giving Hayden my undivided attention all day every day, and spending a little quality time together as a family.

Nothing terribly interesting has been going on, so I'll post some pictures I have.

We spent one night a couple of weeks ago playing Apples to Apples Jr. These kinds of games are so much more fun now that Taylor and Payton read well. Anyway, here are the pictures with a little explanation.


Payton was pleading her case for "underwear" being a good match for "flat."

Hayden is pleading her case for "snowflake" being the best match for "flat."

Hayden trying hard not to pout one of the times her card isn't picked. Because guess what whining and pouting gets you when we are playing a game. That's right, a one-way ticket to bed.

Taylor just gives me here best smile anytime I turn the camera on her. I

As usual, Bryan willingly plays along.

I don't remember what day this was, but it must have been a Friday night because the girls are wearing their tiger t-shirts. What a great date-night activity. I am sure Bryan and I played our own game after the girls went to bed...Phase 10. That is usually how we chill in the evenings. I swear, we know how to have a good time.

Aren't they the best?

After we got home from Math Night, I sent the girls upstairs to brush their teeth and get in bed. I told them I would be up in five minutes to tuck them in. This is what I found:
They were all in their jammies, with their teeth brushed, and in bed. Hayden was reading Hop on Pop, Taylor was playing with her doll, and Payton was laying there patiently waiting. I love these girls.

Observation of the day

Hayden: Mom, my crocs and my apple are the same color!

After eating her apple, she told me her teeth hurt. I look in her mouth and see that her bottom two teeth are loose. She is obviously really excited. I told her I was worried that between the 12 teeth Taylor has lost and the 8 teeth Patyon has lost, I don't think the tooth fairy will have any money left for her. But she told me it was okay because the tooth fairy has 152,000 dollars.

I sure am going to miss her next year when she is in Kindergarten.

Speaking of losing teeth, Payton lost her 8th one at school yesterday. She put her little tooth in her tooth box last night and prayed that the tooth fairy would bring her at least $1 because that is all she still needs to be able to buy the baton and pom-pom set at Red Balloon. Well at 4:45 this morning I hear some commotion upstairs, and I run up to make sure everything is OK. Payton was wide awake sitting on her bed counting her money. Her prayers had been answered. The tooth fairy came and now she had more than enough money. I, of course, turned off the light, pointed at the clock and told her to go back to sleep. The best part of this story is that she couldn't go back to sleep in her bed, so she had to get in my bed, where Hayden already had been since 4:00 when Bryan left. So much for me getting back to sleep.

Math Night

We spent the evening at the school for Math Night. Here are a few pictures from the festivities. It wasn't too crowded so we got to do most of the activities on 1st and 2nd grade halls. At each activity, they give you a little take-home packet so you can also play the games at home. All of the halls had an estimation game along with the other activities and Taylor won 2nd place for estimating how many cubes were in the jar on 1st grade hall. She won the book she is holding in the last picture. It was a nice evening that ended with us running by Kidz Klozet for me to pick up my unsold items and my check. It was a whopping $82 baby!!!! That will almost make up for what I spent at Sams yesterday, or Target on Saturday, or Wal-mart today. Man, that money is long gone already.

This game is "Make a 10." It's like memory but instead of matching numbers you are trying to find two numbers that add up to 10. Considering Hayden didn't quite get it, this lasted way longer than necessary.


On this game you predict which picture the spinner will land on the most then spin a bunch of times and tally the results to see if you are correct.

Same kind of "guess where the spinner will land" game.

This game had something to do with rolling dice, adding up the numbers, figuring out how many minutes past the hour it would be on a clock, etc. I'm not exactly sure because Bryan helped Taylor with this one.

The kids had a good time. As much as they enjoyed the games, I think they really enjoy seeing all their friends and teachers outside of the classroom.