1 year!!!

Happy anniversary to me!!! One year ago on April 1 I began this blog. I am so happy that my friend Amy introduced/shoved this idea down my throat. I only started one to get her off of my back and now look....I don't even need her to persuade me to post now. I am kind of a roller coaster blogger, some months I am blogging every day and some months only once a week. At any rate, I love this new way to journal my families life, and along the way I have reconnected with old friends (Noelle, Heather, Ashley) and made new blogging friends (Bekki, Momza, Emily) to name a few.
So here's to many more years of blogging my life away. It's late, I think that I'll go to bed now. Toddles

A little bet

I am at my wits end, and when a person is at their wits end they do ANYTHING to find a solution to the problem. I know that my child will read this, so I will not go into too many details for fear that she will be forever mad at me and never speak to me again. Let's just say that she has discovered the male spieces, yep, that is right. Let me remind you that she is only a 5th grader. Well her teacher has contacted us about some letters that were being passed back and forth between her and another student ( a male one). In the letter she expressed interest in kissing. I was stunned! What happened to my sweet little innocent baby girl? My first impulse was to yank her out of school and home school her, but really will solve anything? So I came up with another plan....the bet.
The conversation went as follows
Me: Sienna why do you want to kiss a boy
Sienna: What?! I don't
Me: Then why did you write that in your letter to ......?
Sienna: Mom that was an April Fools joke!
(RIGHT!)
Me: Sienna you shouldn't even be thinking about that until you are old enough to date....which is 16.
Sienna: Whatever
Me: I want to make a deal with you... if you can make it to 16 WITHOUT kissing a boy then I will give you $1,000
Sienna: DEAL (said without ANY hesitation)
Me: No cheating on this, because I will know if you break your end of the deal
Sienna: How will you know?
Me: I'm your mom and I just will know. Now shake on it.
And with that our deal was sealed. I fully intend to uphold my end of the bargain and she seems pretty excited to uphold her end. (at least for now!)
I already have my speech prepared for the next time she likes someone, I will say to her "Sienna is he REALLY worth $1,000?"
Wish me luck!

A new favorite thing!

Anyone that knows me knows that I LOVE fruity, chewy treats ie... starbursts, peach rings, and yes skittles. My favorite has always been the purple bag, but I was at the store the other day and say that there was a NEW flavor out....Crazy Cores, so I anxiously picked up a bag and oh my!!!! They are sooooo yumm-er-ooo. Definitely one of my new favorite things!

Crazy hair day and strep throat

Ana loved her crazy hair! The pink really showed up well on her blonde hair....what a cutie pie!

Taelynn's hairstyle of choice.

Sienna was sooo excited for this day...she had planned out her 'look' for several days.

Last week was spirit week at the kids' school and one of the days was Crazy hair day. So we did their hair CRAZY! We had some glitter color spray that we sprayed into their hair and voila! PINK HAIR!!! Warning: this does create a very interesting 'ring around the collar'...especially on a white shirt!

Sienna had been complaining about a sore throat and since we do not currently have insurance I was reluctant to take her into the doctor. By day two of the sore throat she was pretty miserable and had NO appetite (very unusual for her) plus she was FREEZING (again, unusual for her) so my mother intuition kicked in and told me that she had strep and needed to get into the doctor. Results: Strep Throat. So we got her on antibiotics and now (four days later) she is well on the path to recovery. PHEW! Fingers crossed that no one else gets it!

Competition time!!!

Yes it is that time of year again! Competition season has begun!!! Sienna had her first dance competition last weekend and she did a FABULOUS job! I am SOOOO proud of her and what an awesome dancer she has become. She is in three routines and each routine took first place! Way to go Sienna!!!

I seriously don't know what her deal is lately with having her picture taken in her uniform...she HATES IT! That explains the look on her face in these pictures.

HELP! I tried to download some footage of her doing her routines and after about an hour of trying to get it to download I gave up, instead I am posting it on Youtube and then will link it onto the blog. ONe problem.... How do you post a youtube video directly on your blog (not just the link for it)? I have been showed before, but now can't remember! Can anyone out in bloggingville help me out??? I know that you are all DYING to see the video's LOL.

Don't you just LOVE the look on her face? It is like..."come on mom...enough!" What a kid!

The coolest field trip EVER!

On Tuesday I was able to chaperon a field trip that Sienna's grade went on. It was called JA Biztown and was on the top floor of the Children's Museum at the Gateway. For the past few months the students have been studying economics. They have learned how to manage a checkbook, the importance of savings, and other real-life things that you need to know about money. They were each given a job that they would have in one of the businesses at Biztown As soon as you walked off of the elevator you felt like you just walked onto a city street. It was so dang cute! Sienna's job was the CFO of Larry H. Miller (a local car dealership). She was pretty disappointed though, she wanted a job as a DJ or to work at Smith's Marketplace (how's that for aiming high??!!!)
Here is a link that shows a video and better describes what this experience is all about http://www.ja.org/about/about_news_video_biztown.shtml
It was such a fun experience and I can't wait to go back again! This is Sienna working at her desk

Paying all of the companies bills (she couldn't believe how many invoices she had to pay!)

Alphagraphics...that is the store that I was assisting in.

A glimpse down one of the 'streets'

Sienna's place of employment

Eating lunch at the 'Restaurant'

This boy was picked as the Mayor, he is giving a speech to welcome the citizens to Biztown

You scream, I scream, we all scream for.....PIE???!!

Yep, that's right...PIE! I don't know if any of you knew this but yesterday was national pie day. What a marvelous thing to give an entire day of recognition to!!! I LOVE PIE! My favorites are cream pies, but you can't beat a great fresh peach pie either!!! I found out about this holiday from another blog friend (thanks Momza!) and decided that we have had enough gloom and doom at our house and needed a reason to have a party. So I called up some of my wonderful friends and said "come over for a pie party!" We made it a whole family affair, so there were lots of loud children running around...but everyone had a great time! Everyone brought a pie to contribute to pot and we all stuffed our faces! I want to kiss the person that invented such a glorious day! Some of the delectable choices!

I know. What a bunch of goof balls...I just can't help it, Amy is such a picture freak and I love to look at pictures where we are doing more than just the typical 'pretty smile'. These two girls always bring out the crazy in me (truthfully, it doesn't take much! LOL)

I guess I was hungry for anything! INCLUDING Kristen's hair! HAHAHAHA you girls are the best!

Me piggin out!

Amy and Kristen. YUMMM-ER-OOOO! Thanks so much for joining us girls. I love impromptu parties, especially with you guys!

Because nice matters!

Anyone that knows me knows these two things about me... #1 I love watching the Bachelor and #2 I REALLY struggle watching movies/TV shows that show people being mistreated by others. Ask anyone and they will tell you that I can't watch war movies or concentration camp movies or movies where people are being beat up constantly. Well unfortunately on Monday these two things coincided with each other. Some of you are probably rolling your eyes right now and honestly I know that a lot of you can't stand shows like the Bachelor so I will spare the details of what happened. The bottom line here is that people hurt other people on NATIONAL television and then made excuses for their behavior. Is that really what we have succumbed to? We need to watch others pain and embarrassment for our own personal entertainment? I know, I know, it is just a show...but it really just got me thinking about how so many people are just 'OK' with watching someone hurt someone else. Why have we become so desensitized to the mistreatment of others? Why do we as adults still find the need to be openly rude or mean to others just for the sake of freedom of speech? I actually know a person (who is my age mind you, not a wishy washy teenager) who prides herself on saying "If I don't like someone I let them know it!"
SERIOUSLY??!! Is this the way that we want our children to grow up thinking is alright behavior?
I know that I am not perfect and along my road of life I have hurt others because of my own faults and insecurities and for that I am very regretful and sorry. I hate when I hurt others and really go out of my way to try to be nice...even when someone just gets under my skin. Remember that old saying "Kill them with kindness"??? It seems that people today would rather "Kill them with words".
I saw the above person on Saturday at a baptism with all her extended family and it was all I could do to not walk up to this person's mother and ask her if she knew what a mean, hurtful daughter she had raised. But that would be mean and hurtful of me to do....so instead I just smiled and said a friendly Hello.
Can you imagine how different our world would be if people thought of others feelings more than our own selfish desires? It wouldn't be called earth....it is called the Celestial Kingdom....a place I hope to someday be.
END OF SOAPBOX

a RUDE awakening...actually I ALREADY knew this.

A few nights ago, we invited our friend Blake and his two kids to eat with us since his wife was working late, we were sitting there eating and I was holding Blake's little baby and commented on how holding him made me so baby hungry. Chris of course gave me 'the look' and said his typical 'absolutely not' remark.
Taelynn looked at me and said "Mom, you SHOULD have a baby...then you can get bosoms!"
Keep in mind we had company! I'm sure that my face turned bright red. She wouldn't let it die either, she just kept repeating it until I said "Taelynn that is enough!" It is a pretty clear sign that you are in need of some 'enhancing' when your child can state the obvious!

CAUGHT!!!

Whenever Mr. Faisal does something wrong, this is the position that I find him in when I catch him. He thinks that if he can't see me then I must not be able to see him. He says "shhhh, I hiding mommia"

Little stinker boy!

Digital Scrapbooking???

HELP! I am interested in learning more about digi scrapping, but I am completely clueless. Can any of you blogging buddies steer me in the right direction to some good sites where I can go and get some freebies? I have googled it and tried to download some free ones, but I don't get what to do from there. Do I really need to take a class on this? I consider myself a smart person, but man....this is really confusing! Help someone!

Relationship update

It has been a long time since I gave an update on how me and the "Gym" are doing. Well I am sad to say that after five months going strong Gym and I had to part ways. Truth be told, he was just too expensive and far to HIGH MAINTENANCE for me. So the beginning of the year marked the end for the two of us. Sigh. It was good while it lasted. Gym did make me happy at times (like when I would be LEAVING Gym), but the pocket book just couldn't support our relationship anymore. I will always look back on our days together with fondness and whenever I hear the whir of an elliptical or see a bead of sweat drop down my face...I will think of Gym. Here is the crappy part, since Gym and I's parting, six weeks ago, I have probably GAINED oh...about ten pounds and a few lumps of cottage cheese. So clearly Gym had SOME good qualities.
So onto my next relationship, Pilate's at home with my trusty video. Here's to the approaching swimsuit season! BARF.

A good read

One of the blogs that I follow had the best post on it. It was about loving yourself despite all your weaknesses and shortcomings. Seriously it was so funny, you all should read it if you have a few minutes. You can find it here http://momza.blogspot.com/2009/02/wordful-wednesday-love-for-self.html
Thanks Momza for posting such a great post!

And yet another school project...

Yes, that is right...for your viewing pleasure....it is homework time! Taelynn had to construct a home found in the olden days from ancient civilization and we chose to do a Chickee hut. So last night she and I got our creative juices flowing and this was the result...not too shabby huh? Granted I would hate to live in it...way too drafty for my taste.

This was the picture that we had to try and reproduce.

Building the masterpiece.

The finished hut...what a goofy girl, just gotta love her!

"Enough is enough!" says Cinderella as she throws down her broom and turns in her resignation papers!!!

Yep, that is pretty much how it went down here in the land of Fiddlesticks. I thought that when Prince charming swept me off my feet my days of slavery were over! No one told me about the fine print at the bottom of the marriage certificate that I signed all those years ago, that said "some day you will allow some of the seven dwarfs (well four in my case) into my home and raise them as my own...provide them with love, food and shelter and in return they will love you forever BUT they will be complete pigs and when asked to help out around the house they will give you attitude, scream at you and tell you what a horrible mother you are."
Did anyone else read this fine print, or were you just as shocked as I was???
It is true that these little 'dwarfs' can bring so much love and joy into my life, but does the mess have to be part of the package? For real, my dwelling looks so WT right now and I am done with it! So like the title says, I threw down my broom and said ENOUGH!
I am sharing this plan with you because if you are Cinderella in your kingdom maybe it will work for you.
I created a chore chart! Some of you are thinking "well duh, Cinderella, you should have done this years ago!" to which I reply, we have tried to come up with a system in the past, but just can't seem to get it to work.
I made a 'weekly' chart circle that we will rotate each child...I mean dwarf, through. Then I made a chart that listed every daily task that I could think of that the munchkins fight us on doing IE...brush teeth, getting dressed, making bed, taking a shower, reading scriptures. Each day they will get a pink or a black check for each task completed. The color of the check depends on how they completed it, if they complained, argued, or just didn't do it when asked then they get a black check. If they do it like the angels I know they are, then they get a pink. At the end of the week we total the checks...for every pink check they get 2 cents, for every black check they get 2 cents deducted. They have the possibility to make $2.50 a week, which they must then pay their tithing and put 10 percent into savings. Now since they will be making money each week, they will start paying for things like treats at the store, or going to the dollar store etc.
I must say that so far, it seems to be working, granted we have only been doing it since Sunday...so my fingers are crossed!

This is the weekly job circle chart, each week I will rotate their name around the circle.

This is Ana's chart...she has a hard time with doing things without complaining...hence the black checks. sigh.

A happy heart day 2009

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!! We had a very nontraditional Valentines day this year. Rather than spending it as a couple we decided to do it as a family. Ana made us this cute Valentine at school

For dinner we did Fondue...which the kids had never done before but absolutely loved! We had steak, chicken and shrimp that they could choose from. I made a few dipping sauces that they could then dip their meat in. It was very tasty.

I bought these DARLING sugar cookies for each of the kiddo's and one GIANT one for Chris. My friend who makes the amazing cupcakes http://cupcakesbyles.blogspot.com made these for me. They were so good!Obviously the kids loved them as well!

For a craft project me and the kids made these cute bags for them to take to school and hold all of their valentines in. They turned out so cute!


You put the valentine in the mouth to drop it into the bag...pretty cute ehhh?!

Hana's Wedding....and a child goes MIA

Yesterday Chris' little sister Hana got married. Here are some of the pictures from that blessed event.

The bride and groom.

All of Chris' siblings...it has been a long time since we have had a picture with all of his brothers and sisters.

Chris' sisters- Miki and Hana and his Mom.

The little stinker!!!! Does anyone have a leash that I can use on this little guy? We were all standing around the Salt Lake Temple grounds waiting for our turn to take pictures on the temple grounds (keep in mind that it was a Saturday at the Salt Lake temple, so it was PACKED with people) and I looked down to see what this little guy was up to and low and behold....HE WAS NO WHERE TO BE FOUND! Panic. Fear. Anxiety.

Chris and I looked at each other and then split up on our search of Temple Square to try and find my little two year old. You don't realize how HUGE temple square is until you find yourself starring at it's vastness and wondering "where on earth can he be?". We searched for a good 10 minutes and could find no sign of him. I kept looking at all the other families taking bridal pictures to see if he had 'jumped' in to any of their pictures (yes, he would do that!)....but nothing. As I made my way back to where the rest of the family was I saw that a big security guard guy was handing Faisal to Chris. I ran to Chris and grabbed my little one and just held him. He was happy as can be, like he had just had a fun adventure. It turns out that he had wandered over to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and was wandering around in the Lobby!!!! I have no idea how he made it over there and how he opened the door to the building. The guard said that when he asked Faze where his mom was he pointed to the temple and said "temple". Phew! How lucky I feel that nothing horrible happened to him and that no crazy person saw him and scooped him up.