what is easier?

Thayne has been installing pipe to all of our horse stalls for the past 2 days. He decided to install automatic water thingies so the horses water is always full. So he tells me.

Him- I am going to install the automatic water for the horses to make things easier for you, so you don't have to water all the time?

Me- (STUNNED LOOK!) Selling the horses would make it easier for me.

Man it felt soooo good to get that out, Again!

My new favorite



I bet you are thinking I am going to comment on the liquid soap. Not quite yet. But under my sink does smell alittle better. I am talking about the Rowing Machine at the gym. I don't know why I just started liking it. My father in law has one at his house that I play on sometimes when I am there, but for some reason this week I have found that I look forward to this machine when I am at the gym. The best part is that nobody ever uses them so they are always empty. Now let me tell you why I started using it. You see I never watch the show the Biggest Loser. However I read the article about the girl who won in People Magazine. Then I heard a radio interview with her. The radio host told her that her arms and shoulders looked amazing. So I flipped to the People magazine article to see her shoulders and sure enough AMAZING. She told him she used the Rowing Machine. Ah Ha! So I decided I would try it and see if I could stick to it, and I love it. Not sure if my shoulders will ever look like hers but I found a good exercise that I enjoy. The Biggest Loser touched my life and I never even watched the show.

(not me in the picture)

I found it and I am gonna try it

Have you seen this?

I had to run to the grocery store to get some liquid dish soap. I have been out for a week. I have squeezed and shook and squeezed and shook some more, until it just wouldn't spit any more droplets of soap out for me. You know how commercials say "one drop does a whole sink full of dishes". Big Fat Lie! I tried it and it barely does a pan. So at the grocery store I always look to see what is on sale. Viola! Dawn has a new brand out. I am so excited to try it. I know the soap will work fine, because really all dish soap is the same to me, really it is. Now this soap has this air freshener at the bottom so under your sink always smells nice. Now this might not be exciting to some, but my sink has had a leak for months and I have a bowl catching water under my sink and anything could improve the smell under there. Now don't think how sad that Thayne has not fixed it for me yet. He is willing and able. We bought the sink, it is sitting in the garage. I need to pick out a new faucet because that is part of our problem too. This really is a whole different post in itself. So until we get the sink fixed I am so excited to see if this soap/air freshener thingy really works. I got the lemon tangerine scent. I like fruit scents over flowery yuk. I think they have 3 other scents but I will have to try those another time. I am giving it a go for a while and see if I like it or not. I will let you know.

By the way Basha has it on sale now, just incase you want to get it on sale too.

Shhhhhh!

I don't want to type to loud. I just wanted to say that Thayne is still home. 2 weeks and alot of brick wall later and he has still not been told where he is going next. Yipppeeee! I just love when they let him sit for a little while. I am sure after I type this he will get a call sending him somewhere. Home another day. Ü

Sunday Sweetheart

It has been one of those Sundays. Not the super spiritual ones. The kind that you say did I really wake up to this. Then with the little touches that Thayne add to my day I am still smiling.

Tito and Nick's
I guess it all started last night when I suggested we go out to this new pizzeria near the kids school. It just opened so I thought it would be fun to try out something new. Tito & Nicks turned out to be a nice Italian place very cutely decorated. It was a little bit more than I was expecting. The problem was crappy service, and we waited for our food for over an hour. My food was not all that bad, Thayne didn't like his. Who knows we may go back when they have been in business for a while and the service gets better. So anyways we got home kinda late, and I was too tired to iron white shirts for the guys. I figured I would do it after my meeting in the morning.

Good News, Bad News
This morning I had my 8am Sunday welfare meeting. I am usually out of this meeting between 9-9:30. This week it was 9:45. I was running behind schedule because I still had to iron 3 white shirts for the boys. I had originally planned to take the shirts to the cleaners because I wanted a break from ironing this week, but the lady at the cleaners told me I brought them in to late and I wouldn't get them back in time. grrr. So anyways. I got back from my meeting walked in the house and had Thayne asking me if I wanted the good news or the bad news. I looked at him and said "the good news is you ironed the shirts for me, right?" He said, "yes I did". After I heard that good news I knew the bad news would be easy. I was ready to handle anything knowing I didn't have to iron. Then he says "the bad news is Sister Hardt called and is sick so she can't do class sharing time." Huh? We leave for church in one hour and we have no sharing time.

Rush hour
What do I do? I called Shantell Carroll and told her she will have extra singing time and then head straight to Sugardoodle.net (my favorite church site) to find some kind of story to tell the kids for sharing time. While I was doing this Thayne had already had the meat in the fridge marinading for dinner, and had laundry going and was cleaning our room. The kitchen managed to stay clean before church which kept me in a good mood.

Church time
I won't go into all the hairy details, but one of my counselors was out of town, (we missed you Julia, hope you had fun. Ü) my other counselor didn't show up at all, don't know why but I hope it was a good reason. Gena, I love you for picking up all the slack, primary runs smoothly because of you.!!!!! Jr primary, we had no talk or scripture. So I grabbed kids at the last minute to fill in. The primary microphone broken so it was hard to hear them. It just kinda seemed like everyone needed to talk to me or needed me to fix something for them. I am lucky to have great music leaders who are awesome. I left church needing a nap. I love my calling and days like today definitely spice it up quite a bit. But, I was still able to get in and sit with the kids alittle bit and sing with them which is my favorite part of primary.

I woke up from my nap telling Thayne we needed to get the meat on the BBQ so it would be done in time. He told me everything was already taken care of. Ü Even though Sunday really isn't the day to do house work, he has managed to get almost all the laundry done so who really wants to stop that. NOT ME!

I don't think I would have kept my cool today if it wasn't for Thayne doing all the little things that took the burden off of my shoulders. I love that he saves all his patience for me and always tries to make things a little easier. What a dreamboat!

Pat on my back, so far

Well I may be bragging alittle bit but I have to say I am sure proud of myself. I have been driving a very long time and I have NEVER run out of gas. However, today I think I was the closest ever. Last night I pulled into the driveway and told Thayne I didn't think I would make it to a gas station to get gas. So today I started out driving the Excursion (choke choke). I swear I can almost here the car making a slurping sucking noise as I drive this car. Thayne then tells me that he needed the Excursion to take on the Scout Camporee. So he so nicely takes the gas can out of the garage and puts a gallon into my PT so I can get to the gas station safely. Yep! I felt so safe I drove right past the gas station and took TJ to work, picked the little kids up from school, made a return to Ross (the curtain rod Thayne wouldn't let me hang in his room), went to Potato Barn to look at furniture, drove to Rachel's to hang out until I had to get TJ from work, went to get TJ from work with my gas light back on and back to the point I was in my driveway with no gas. TJ finally came out of work and I drove straight to Costco which is about 2-3 miles holding my breath the whole time. I saw a line at the Costco gas station. Thinking my kids can push me to the pump if I have to, then I see that everyone is in line for the pump with the gas tank on the left side of their car, yippeee for me mine is on the right and I just drove straight in possibly coasting but I am not sure.

I am proudly patting myself on the back for still not ever running out of gas.

Big Girl

When I was growing up I never knew the luxuries of going to a salon and getting my hair done. My hair was always cut by mom and permed (I love perms) by my mom. My mom did awesome perms, especially for the 80's. Have I ever mentioned that I miss the 80's. Ok, so I even had a few hair colors from my oldest sister and lets just say those didn't turn out so hot. I remember french braiding my hair for school to try to disguise that it was pink. I don't remember if I pulled it off, but I like to think that I did. Now, growing up with 5 girls we never went to get our nails done at a salon, we just did each others. In fact, I used to think you only went to a nail salon if you were getting acrylic nails. I never knew you could go there to get your own nails cleaned and painted pretty. Since I have grown up and learned this little secret of salon life, which I am very fond of, my girls have learned it too. They love to go with friends to get their nails done. Now I don't pay for this luxury. They earn alot of money babysitting and if this is how they want to use it they can.

Today Samantha and TJ had no school. Why, I am not exactly sure. I don't think the schools even give reasons anymore. So anyways, TJ went to the shooting range with Thayne and Papa Denny. Samantha wanted to get her toes painted. So we went to lunch and then to the nail salon. When it was time to pay the lady looked at me. I looked at Samantha. The lady says, she pay herself. I said, yes she is a big girl and makes alot of money. The lady says, oh ok. Samantha paid and without my suggestion hands the lady a tip. Man she has this salon thing down at 13. I didn't learn it until much later in life. Samantha is just a cute little thing, and I mean little. I am just so proud of her. She is just so sweet and cute and I love that she likes to make herself pretty. A girl after my own heart.

What was I thinking?

You know how you have the after thought of why did I do that. You don't think about what you are doing at the time because it seems fine. This is one of those time.

Again like always, since I am not a grocery shopper. I usually just go to the store when we are really low on food or we run out of something. Last night it was milk, again. Thayne volunteered to go with me which I like when he does especially when it is dark outside. (Do you ever notice that I don't ever punctuate correctly. I only do it right when I correct homework. But really I am not writing a book to be published so who cares. So just incase you think I didn't know I punctuate incorrectly, I do know it's I just don't care).

1st stop
blood pressure machine in the back by the pharmacy. Thayne seems to think it is funny that his blood pressure is always low and mine is sky high. I like to blame him for this. Last night mine actually dropped since our last visit. It was 142/86. Still not good but hey all doctors say I am healthy and there is nothing wrong with me (and I have paid them plenty just to tell me that too) so I just say whatever. Thayne started talking on the phone while taking his blood pressure so I just took off to get my goodies.

2nd stop
Milk, this is the real purpose for going to the store so I would get it first. Then I thought I would get Thayne some chocolate ice cream since her really likes it. But, what if I decided to have some too I would need caramel because you have to have caramel. Right? Now they always say never go to the grocery store hungry because you buy everything. I am sure it is the same for thirsty because I had to have juice. I was so thirsty and OJ sounded so good. So I picked up some OJ and some grape juice just incase I changed my mind on OJ before I got home.

Ride home
Chocolate ice cream is sounding really good to me and I really think I am going to break my rule of not eating after 7pm and have some with alittle caramel. Just once won't hurt. We live close to the store so really this is all I had time to think about.


Finally home
Got out my frozen OJ. Oh I forgot to mention I bought frozen because all the NO PULP refrigerated kind was gone. And really NO PULP is the best I hate the hairs in my OJ. So I made my OJ and Thayne was scooping ice cream and asked if I wanted some. Yep just a little though. So two very small scoops later and alot of caramel I was set for my late night snack.

Regrets
Never, I mean never eat ice cream and drink OJ at the same time. That was the worst combination I have ever had. The taste was not bad, it was that I was awake all night with a burning feeling in my stomach. Not to mention I kept hearing scratching on my window. So maybe it makes you hear things too, because I didn't see anything outside. I just laid there in bed and pictured my ice cream curdling in my stomach, which sounds gross but that is what it was doing I am sure of it.

I guess I will stick to my late night snack rule for now on, because just like I tell my kids. If you are doing something you are not supposed to, you will get hurt. I have learned my lesson.

The Trickle

I just love it when I am at the gym and I am on a machine and talking myself into not getting off until my time is up. So I stick it out and then I feel that trickle of sweat go down my back and I think to myself, this is awesome. It is those little things that keep me going.

Gotta luv it!

Live Laugh Love

We have all seen these words put on everything anyone could think of. I could never buy anything with these words or make anything with these words grouped together because I just feel they are so over done. If you have it in your house that is great, don't take it out on my account really I am sure it looks great. Anyways as much as I avoid these words grouped together when I thought of how I would describe our evening last night these words are what popped into my mind.

Thaynes grandma has been down visiting and she will be heading back to Idaho next week. My kids are fortunate to have 6 great grandparents still alive. They see Thayne's grandparents more than mine and they have a great time together. So last night we decided to go to Mesa and kidnap grandma and take her to Bahama Bucks for FHE. It was so much fun having her all to ourselves. I learned that taking anyone old to a place with that many flavor to choose from could be overwhelming. I love to see Thayne have fun with his grandma. He just loves her and she loves when he razzes her. She always says Thayne is her favorite, and I think he likes that.

All the times I have been to BB's I have never seen the game Bimini. It is a game where you have a string tied to a ring and hanging from a piece of wood. You then swing the ring to a hook on the wall to see if you can hook the ring. Very simple concept but it can drive you crazy. Thayne gave up, I got it hooked once and the kids did it many times. The place was empty so we just had a fun time hanging out and visiting. I am so glad grandma is a night owl because we didn't get her home until 9:30. She usually watches Jay Leno and then goes to bed so we knew she was not going to fall asleep on us. I love that my kids are old enough to remember these times they spend with their great grandparents. I have only one memory of mine and I love that my kids will have many. I think it helps that they all live so long. I think all are in their late 80's. I sure hope I live as long as they do. What a fun evening we had and we will miss grandma when she goes home to Idaho. But what a blast at Bahama Bucks!

my picture story

Once upon a time there was a man named Thayne. He wanted to build a small wall to hide his pool pump!

So his 2 darling children said "dad, we will go get the bricks from the other side of the house and bring them to you. We like to help you." (Actually we just like to drive the lawn mower everywhere).

Samantha was exhausted from driving.

"Boy driving that lawn mower is hard work. I'm pooped!"

Wyatt loves helping his dad with hard work.

"I like working hard with my dad, it is so much fun. "



I just like taking a break to pet my dog.

Man that was hard work!

"See ya dad we are going to Water and Ice to get some ice cream. You just stay here and keep working by yourself while mom sits and takes pictures!"

Fine! I will stay here and work all by myself and bend over until Heather takes a picture of me like this!




The End!

Your welcome for editing the last picture. It was my pleasure!

And yes Thayne was really doing that on purpose. Those of you who really know him didn't even have to ask!

Just normal

Today I let Jessika skip school so I could take her to get a sport physical so she could try out for cheerleading today. 75 girls are trying out and they are picking 20. She will do great I just know it. Even if she doesn't make it, she will be the cutest one out there. So back to the sport physical. They did an eye test and running in place test and blood pressure. They checked height, weight and everything else on the list. We finished up and left. Everything looked great. She didn't even have a heart murmur which her cardiologist said she would always have one, but nope it is completely gone.

So we got in the car and Jessika started looking at her physical papers. She started reading out loud what it said: (If you know Jessika's personality it makes more sense)

Height- normal

weight- normal

skin- normal

appearance - normal, What they judge my appearance and it's normal? Well I guess the only other choice is abnormal, so at least he checked normal.

blood pressure- normal


Man I am just a normal person!
How boring is that!

Super Saturday

After the great baptism that I went to yesterday, my day just got better. Let me go back almost 10 years (I can't believe it has been that long).

When I was pregnant with Wyatt someone broke into our home when I was gone for the morning and my wedding ring was stolen. I think it was one of the saddest days I have ever had. Maybe not the day it was stolen, but definitely the day after searching all the pawn shops to see if I could find it and Tony Harper telling me it would probably never be found, I knew it was gone for good. Very very sad. In the last 10 years I have waited for a new one but we never really used any extra money to buy one. Ok so you can see where this is going to why my Saturday was great. Thayne went out with Wyatt and Jess and bought me a new ring, he was hoping to give it to me on our Friday night date. Our Friday night date turn out to be with 3 of our kids going to Home Depot and Lowe's to buy a new kitchen sink. Not very romantic so no ring Friday night. Saturday Jessika asked Thayne if she could be there when he gave me the ring. So right before we left on our date he got all the kids together and he gave me my new ring. How great is that. My kids were excited and I was very excited and I just love it. Thayne felt bad that it took him so long to buy a new one, and I forgot instantly how long it had been. I love that he likes to make me happy. It is not even the ring that makes me the most happy, it is that he surprises me with his love all the time.

Next we headed out to dinner with a group of fun couples that we just had a fun time eating and hanging out with. We definitely need to do that more. It stinks being the old couple. The good part of being the oldest couple is we didn't need a babysitter. It is neat to see that age doesn't mean a whole lot when you are with people you like being with.

So what a great spiritual, fun and exciting social filled day.

I can't forget the fun finds I got with my 2 girls and Rachel at the garage sales we went to in the morning. Got to love shopping with my favorite girls. We missed Hannah and Lauren, maybe next time they can tag along with us too.

little reminders

I have to say that there are times when I wonder why they have baptisms right in the middle of a Saturday. It is usually right in the middle of something I am doing. I have to change into church clothes out of my comfy old Saturday clothes. Luckily I don't have to find a babysitter. Then I get to the baptism and sit there and listen to the music and then look at the child being baptized all dressed in white with the hugest grin on their face and I am reminded why I go to baptisms in the middle of a Saturday. It is the best part of my calling, and always the best part of my Saturday. I love seeing the grandpa's cry when they speak, and the grandma's cry when they pray (I actually don't see the grandma's cry, because I am closing my eyes). Not exactly fond of the kids running around crazy but if you ignore it you can feel the spirit. I love seeing the little girls after they have just been baptized. They are usually wearing the prettiest white dress and you can just see in their eyes that they feel like an angel. It is fun to see every time. Anyways, I just got back from Lindsey Nichols baptism and her smile melts my heart all the time anyways, but I loved being at her baptism today and love the spirit that warmed the middle of my Saturday.

Reality Rant

Ok since I am giving my opinion about AI, I feel I should do the same for Survivor.

Ozzy what were you thinking!!!!!!!!

I just totally don't get that everyone who has ever had the immunity idol never uses it and gets kicked off. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid! Ozzy has always been one of my favorites and this year he has let his popularity go to his head. He got to comfortable and to cocky and just screwed up. The person who thinks they run the show are usually the ones who get back doored. Hello! It happens every season and they never learn. I have to be honest and say this is not my most favorite season. Fans vs. Favorites was a stupid idea.

Bye Ozzy, you were easy on the eyes but just plain stupid!

Woooooosh!

That was a close one.
I just watched last nights American Idol. I am sooooo glad Brook is still in. I have been a fan of hers since the beginning. I am not even a fan just because her grandma is in our ward. Which is very funny to have Sister Wood's bear her testimony about AI and getting to go see Brook perform. Also very fun to watch AI and see Sister Woods on tv, that was fun. Anyways, I have always liked Brook and I think she is just so unique compared to the other contestants. I crack up at her dorky facial expressions. I don't think she should agree with the judges when they are hard on her. I just keep thinking be quiet and stop agreeing with them already! I am just so glad she is in for one more week.

Let's say goodbye to Syesha who is so replaceable.

not as planned

I had my day planned out and things have gone not as planned. I did get to the gym, didn't do a class like I would like to do more of, but I did spend 45 minutes on my favorite machine. I got home with a shower in mind when you know who (Thayne) asked if I would follow him over to the muffler shop to get the Excursion fixed. I really hate going out and about without a shower, but I did want the car fixed. Not that gas prices are going to make me hop in that baby and drive it anytime soon. Since it was only going to be 45 minutes for the car to be fixed we decided to get lunch at Jack In the Box at 10:30am. Definitely not going as planned, early lunch not on my loose weight schedule. I ordered my 2 taco's for 99cents. If you haven't tried these you have to they are so yummy. Looking at the drink menu and wondering what to get since I wasn't getting a coke. Hmmmm. I'll take a chocolate shake. While we were eating Thayne says, how is that diet. Whoa! NO diet. I never said I was on a diet. I said I was going to try to loose alittle bit of weight an stop drinking coke. Diet? Nope! So chocolate shake at 10:30 bad idea, I feel groggy and slow now. I came home and fluffed up some clothes in the dryer so I could fold them. When pulling them out they were so warm I just cuddled them and laid on the bed and dozed off. I woke up to Thayne calling me from the car wash wanting me to meet him at Home Depot to look and kitchen sinks, ours has been leaking and can't be fixed. Still no shower, so I turned him down and said we can go back when we pick the kids up from school. I was on my way to the shower and decided to stop by the computer. Never do this when you want to accomplish things because this thing sucks me in every time. So now it is 12:47 and I have one hour until I have to get TJ from school and I am determined to have showered before it is time for me to go. How is my schedule going today, hmmm not so good.

ahhh it taste so good

After 1 week with no coke, I broke down and had one with lunch. Eating out with Thayne at El Rico's would not be the same without it. Now this is not saying that I have given up on not drinking coke, I just am going to treat myself once in awhile. Just like I did today. It was delicious and I loved every minute of it. I have also enjoyed my stomach getting flatter from not drinking it, so now I am back on my water with lemon. I really think water with lemon is something that has to grow on you. I am slowly starting to like it, and I mean slowly. I love water and I love lemon, I mean I really love lemon. Water and lemon, not so much! I heard it is good for you. By who? I don't know and I have not even researched it. I am just taking a piece of advice I have vaguely remembered from an unknown source and I am trying it. It has to be better than drinking coke, right? Oh the sweet taste of coke. Oh how I will enjoy us meeting every so often. Happy hour at Sonic is just not the same without you. Sniff Sniff!

what a sweetheart

Those of you who know Wyatt, knows what an animal lover he is. He just is so
fascinated with animals. He found frogs while playing miniature golf and just loved catching them. Maybe this is why he came in last place, even I beat him and I was doing horrible. He is such a softy when it comes to any kind of creature.

The man code part 2

Ok so when we were driving to play miniature golf the topic of the man code came up again. Thayne determined to make sure it is exactly perfect before making a final copy. Thayne telling TJ they will have to have the code on cards that they can carry in their pockets. (Oh brother)
While discussing what the rules were, TJ wasn't quite understanding it. So here is how part of the conversation went,

TJ- so part of the code is when I kiss a girl I put a notch on my belt right?
Thayne- NO! That is not what the code is.
TJ- It's not?
Thayne- (giving TJ a funny look, because I was in the car) No, one thing on the code is be careful what you say in front of your mother. (referring to the notch on the belt).

So of course I gave Thayne the eye, you have all seen me do it. Every wife has the eye they give, I am just convinced mine has special powers that no other wife's has.

So the code is being perfected. I will update as things progress.

Things I love

Yes I love Thayne being home for many many reasons.

-he drives 6am carpool even when it's not our turn

-he has weeded the front yard and even put in new flowers

-he takes our family to fun places like miniature golfing

-he makes the bed.

-he does his own laundry. That's right all by himself!

-he doesn't care what I make for dinner because it's better than what he had in Mexico.

-he feeds all of his animals. (I love this one)

-he makes his own Honey Do list.

-he likes it when I pamper myself.

The list just goes on and on.

I am just lucky to be married to my best friend, and I love having him home.

The code

ok I just want to say I am writing about something I really know nothing about. The boy/man code. It has something to do with:
-when things are discussed you keep them between who discussed them.
- You don't rat anyone one out.
- what is talked about in the car stays in the car.

Now I don't know if any of these are actually the rules but this is what I get from what I hear.

Today when Thayne and I picked TJ up from school they were discussing the code and laughing. I told them I wanted nothing to do with the code. I was staying out of that mess. Thayne was telling us he was going home to write the code and wanted me to put in in vinyl so he could have it posted somewhere. NO WAY! I want no part of the code. I was not helping with the code. It is a man code and I was not involved. NOPE. So Thayne decided it was best to not be written anywhere, that it is something that should just be memorized. So he is going to get the code together and then memorize it. Now I am telling you I really am not even sure I am clear about what this code is, except I am sure if I knew the whole thing I would not agree with it. Any kind of man code cannot be a good thing. For some reason Thayne and TJ think it is very funny and they just keep saying to each other, you have to stick by the code, you can't break the code.

So whether I agree with the code or not, it is completely out of my control. It is a father son bonding thing and I am just hoping there is some good involved.

catching up

With Thayne home I have been staying pretty busy, which is nice. I kinda slacked off on blogging this weekend. It has been a whirlwind kind of weekend. I think I left off with Thayne and I getting ready for a date.
Early Saturday I went out and treated myself to a manicure and a pedicure. I don't know why but you just can't leave a nail salon without feeling pretty. I think I will probably give up feeding the horses in my flip flops because my feet were pretty disgusting. I could just imagine what the little Vietnamese girl was saying to her friend. I just smiled and read my magazine thinking that all the hard skin on my heels were slowly disappearing, and my nails were getting a fresh coat of paint.

After being pampered at the nail salon, Thayne and I went on a date to get messages. I am glad Thayne likes to do this because it is so great. There is no better way to start a date than to be relaxed. We then headed to Texas Roadhouse. There was a 30 minute wait. We asked how long if we wanted to sit on the patio. The girl said we can sit you now. Yipppeee. We headed straight back and had dinner on the patio with the most beautiful weather. It was fabulous.

What to do next? hmmmm. Not sure. We are such losers. Ok we are such old losers that we can't think of anything else to do. We went shopping for a kitchen sink, didn't buy one though. We stopped off at the grocery store to get a few things for Sunday dinner since we had company coming over. Then we decided to just go home and hang out.

10pm we had to drive back up to Gilbert to pick TJ and Jake up from a dance. It is scary to think they are old enough to go to dances. They had fun, not alot of fun but some fun. Thayne gave Jake some unnecessary advice about girls on the way home and gave rules about the boys code. I will tell you about the code later. After dropping Jake off we headed home. I was so glad because I was soooooo tired.

Sunday, my meeting day. 8am meeting for ward council. My goal for next ward council is to sit with my mouth shut. When I asks questions it seems to open a can of worms and then the meeting goes longer. Next month no questions. I am zipping it up.

Church was great and busy. I loved all my hugs that I got from the kids. They are so fun to be with. I couldn't find my sunglasses I left there last week, darn it. I hate buying new sunglasses. I am not a girl that likes shopping for glasses or purses. I buy one I like and wear the sucker out until I need a new one. Now I need to buy new sunglasses and my purse strap has been shut in my car door one to many times that I may have to replace it soon. Ok back to church. I have amazing women I work with. Julia, Teri and Gena just make my Sundays. Just looking at them walk in the door to primary brightens my day. They always look so stinkin cute and they know just what to do to make primary run smoothly. I feel blessed to be working with them.

Last but not least we had a stake auxiliary training meeting last night. I always leave this meeting feeling like I have been spiritually fed. The stake primary president was talking about fathers and was saying how her dad was not a member of the church so she had never received a fathers blessing. When she said that, it just struck me how I had taken that blessing for granted. I felt very sad for the many people who would love to have this in their lives but are unable to. I am so glad my kids have the priesthood in our home and they can have a blessing from their dad. They truly are blessed. So I left this meeting with a soft heart and a new gust in my sails for primary work.

I ended my Sunday watching the TV version of Sweet Home Alabama. I love this show, don't know why I just do.

life is good

Ok so Thayne is home and I couldn't be more excited about it. Our routine while Thayne is gone is out the door. We are just flying by the seat of our pants. I have to give up my control and let him be the boss for a while. We are both control freaks and very stubborn. We both have a vision of how things should be and they are completely different than each others. How we get along so well with out fighting is a miracle everyday. The kids love having him home. They hang out with him all the time which is nice because I get a break, and he loves having them hang around him. This morning he woke them up at 6:30 to do yard work and I didn't hear one complaint. They just love him. "Dad's weeding? I'll go help him!". I look at them thinking where did you come from and how come you want to weed now.
So it should be a great day for me. Kids helping dad. I am going off by myself, and we have a date tonight to get massages. I am so excited for that one. To top it off, I think I am even having a good hair day, at least for a few hours.

wishes your way

Happy Birthday to my little sister Rachel. She is sick and not feeling well so this is all you get from me today, a blog wish. You get everything else next week. So happy birthday. You are such a great mother, wife, sister and of course my friend. Get well soon.

to busy to notice

Boy do I have fun kids. They may not always be the cleanest or the most obedient, but boy are they fun to be around. I just love when I am in a grumpy mood and they do something to make me smile. I just love when I am stressed (like yesterday) and TJ says "mom you need a hug". I just love when I walk out to take the kids to school and written in the dirt on the side of the car "my mom rocks". I just love when I had to go to Home Depot to get chlorine for the pool and Wyatts says "mom I'll go with you to help you carry it", and he didn't even complain when I ran his foot over twice with the cart. I love all of the stories they tell me when they get home from school. I think with life always being so busy and always rushing around. I am always telling my kids what they need to be doing and giving them deadlines for things to be done. I don't take the time to think about the great kids they are. So today I took a moment and appreciated my kids a little bit more today. And you know what, the stupid things I worry about everyday didn't seem so important.

??? copy cat ????

I don't know, but it seems kinda strange that when I go to one of my favorite blogs, she has a post very similar to my Gypped blog about 5 pages back. I don't know for sure, I'm just sayin! " The Nesting Place "is such a fun blog to read but I was very surprised when I popped on today to read a post almost like mine.
Is it a cowinkiedink? Not sure, but if it is I am glad we think the same because I think she is very clever. You can decide for yourselves.

stupid blog

Yes today I am posting a stupid blog. Boring I know. I have a kabillion (I know this is not a word but I like using it) things to get finished before Thayne gets home tomorrow. I sure hope he is not scheduled on an American Airlines flight because those are all cancelled. I am hoping for the best. There is just so much I wanted to get done before he came home and I don't think I will get my list done. I have a bag of m&m's that fell on my bedroom floor that I need to clean up. I am trying to decide if I should just get the vacuum out and suck them up or sit on the floor and eat them while watching American Idol (which isn't on my to do list). It is a tough decision, one that I will make after I make dinner. I am actually surprised my kids didn't get to them already especially since they already snuck all the Easter candy I hid under my bed. Funny how when you hide the candy they will find it and eat it all. Spill tons on the floor out in the open and they walk right by. Go figure.
So in order for me to get my things done by tomorrow, I will have to close the door to my laser room because I know I won't have time to get that monster clean. My closet isn't looking like it will be touched either. Weeding? I'll be saving the rest for Thayne.
Well now that I have crossed some things off my list my stress level just went down alittle.

I am such a procrastinator, and sitting and typing this blog isn't helping out my time schedule.

Tomorrow I will tell you about this really cute jar I found at TJ Max.

why my laundry isn't done

I didn't start laundry until 8:30 tonight. This was a chore I had planned to start at 8:30 this morning. There had to be a good reason that I had not started until tonight. What have I done all day. Hmmmmm.

I shopped for a bathing suit and found one.
I went to the gym and burned calories.
I drove the kids to their activities.
Weeded in the front yard for an hour. The weeds were taller than me, really! Plus there are a ton still waiting for Thayne when he gets home.
Mowed the side lawn in my flip flops (I call them thongs but everyone laughs at me when I call them that now). If I said I mowed the lawn in my thongs you might feel sorry for my neighbors.
Fed all the animals twice. cows, horses, chickens, rabbits.
Did not feed the kids, they wanted pancakes so they cooked themselves.
Ordered flowers for another man's wife.
Ran to the store late to get milk and gas.

I keep thinking if I go in and start painting my nails that will give me a good reason to put the laundry off until tomorrow.

By the way, a new Thayne update.
He is coming home THURSDAY!!!!!!

scary shopping

Ok, today I did the dreaded bathing suit shopping. Last year I didn't buy one because it was so depressing. This year I found one to try on. I grabbed a size med and a size large to try on. Yes a large. It makes me feel better when I walk out of the dressing room and I get to hand the large back to the lady handing out numbers. Ü Anyways I found a bathing suit I like and it was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I will not be posting any pictures so don't ask for them. However, I will look really cute when I am wearing it with a cover up. Ü
But really I think my success goes back to my previous post. When you are tan the fat looks better.

FHE on a budget

FHE tonight was so much fun. My kids had a blast. We picked TJ up from work at 6:00 and then headed straight for Ross. My lesson tonight was how to shop on a budget. I told the kids they had $15 to buy whatever they wanted but the total of the tags could not be more than $15. I told them I would pay the tax. The boys went one way and the girls went another and I was left in the dust. So off I went, I never told them I was on a budget. After about 10 minutes I decided to go check on the boys to see how Wyatt was doing and saw that it wasn't good when I saw him looking through the small section in the men's dept. When I tried telling him that he was in the wrong section, he tried to convince me that the shirts fit him. Nope, off we went to the boys section where he found himself some shorts and socks. TJ found himself a shirt and boxers with dollars all over them. Not what I would have picked but it was his $15. The girls did really well on their own, but they are Ross shoppers and already knew what to do.
Sam found a shirt, and a Hawaiian bowl and cup. Jess found shorts and a shirt.
So, how did they do?

TJ- $13
Wyatt-$14
TJ & Wyatt figured that between the 2 of them they an extra $3 so they used that and then put in $3 of their own and bought a basketball,

Boys= over budget

Sam- $15.00

Jess- $18.00 had to put in 3 dollars of her own money.

So Sam was the only one that was able to stick to her budget.

Instead of the yummy brownies and ice cream with the yummy syrup I wanted for treat, we drove through McDonald's and bought ice creams and cookies.

Oh I almost forgot to write what I found, remember I wasn't on a budget.
I found a curtain rod, a neat little bag for my camera, and a pair of jean shorts.

The kids were in a chipper mood all the way home and said they had so much fun. I just thought after a day of sitting and watching conference that having a fun outing for FHE would be fun, and it was.

When talking with Thayne tonight and telling him about FHE. I told him I bought a curtain rod for his room and he tells me that I am breaking the code by decorating his room. I say it is a gift for him and he will really appreciate it. I think he is alittle worried. He says he didn't want curtains in the room. I say taking the risk by getting rid of the vertical blinds is one I am willing to take.

there's nothing better

So I went outside to hang a few item of clothing on the fence so they would dry faster and I felt the sun on my face and just stood there soaking it in. I just thought there is nothing better than feeling the warm sun on my face. Then I started thinking of things that I just enjoy. Here are some of them.

There's nothing better than-

* taking warm clothes out of the dryer and holding them.
*drinking frozen lemonade in the summertime
*a good hair day (that would not be today)
*a good Sunday nap
*The first hug I get from Thayne when he gets home
*tan legs (my motto is- tan fat looks better than white fat anyday)
*laying on the beach (I miss this one)
*wearing a new outfit
*family Cold Stone trips
*no dishes in the sink

I have plenty more but these are the ones that popped into my mind first.

My official count down

Tonight Thayne moved his home FOR GOOD from Mexico date up to this Friday. It was supposed to be Saturday but now it's Friday!
That means 5 more days and no more Mexico!!!!! I am so excited I could do my happy dance, except that it is 10pm and I am so tired. But you should see it, I have a great happy dance. Ü

Lovely Day

Today was just one of those neat days that kinda just flowed along without any kinks in it. It was such an exciting feeling to know I could sleep in and not have to worry about my calling. I woke up to the smell of my kids cooking waffles. Samantha came in and said we were out of syrup. She asked if she could use the syrup in the bottle in the fridge. Well the bottle in the fridge is something that was dropped off on our porch at Christmas. It is a canning jar and on the front is says something like "Granny's Pancake Syrup". I had no idea who it was from so I had been afraid to try it. Seeing that we were out of syrup today we decided to warm some up and give it a try. Delicious! That is the first word that came to my mind. It was like caramel. All I could think of was this would be fantastic over a warm brownie with ice cream. So we still have some left and I am going to try the brownie thing tomorrow for FHE. I am so excited.
So thank you to the person who ditched this on our porch at Christmas.

Show yourself so I know how to get more!

Conference was great. I really enjoyed listening to the talks, so many of them I need to go and read and re-read because there was some great stuff today. I did doze off during Uchdorff's talk so I have to go and read that one. But I really enjoyed President Monson he always makes me laugh. He is such a neat man and I am so excited to have him as our new prophet and I am going to love teaching the kids in primary about him.





To top off an already great day, we went over to see Grandma Harris. She is Thayne's grandma from Idaho. She is such a neat lady. She is always dressed so nice and always tries to look her best. She just loves my kids and I love to see how she watches them play. Samantha was in playing the piano and she just went in and sat next to the piano and listened for a while and you could just see on her face that she was so proud of Samantha. Also a Big Thank You to grandma for the beautiful porcelain dolls she brought my girls, they just love them.


My kids have 6 great grandparents left. I keep telling my kids that they are very lucky to have this many great grandparents alive. It will just be nice to have grandma here for a few weeks so we can spend time with her.





Today is also my mom's birthday. I am going to call her in the morning.
I just wanted to give a big Shout out Happy Birthday to her.

The bet

Actually it is not much of a bet because I let myself into a bet that was already going on. Rachel said that her and Stephen had a bet to see who could lose 10 pounds by the end of the month. Hey I want in on that deal. Lose 10 pounds before summer, sounds great to me. So I am determined to do it. I have not had a coke in 3 days. I have been depending on Excedrin migraine to kick my headaches from lack of coke.

Boy am I grateful for that great Costco deal on Excedrin migraine.

So I haven't lost any weight yet, but I am going to the gym and since it is nice outside I may start rollerblading a couple times a week. I really enjoy rollerblading, except when I fall. I have only fallen once, but I can say it wasn't pretty and I am sooooo glad nobody saw. Oh and I can't forget the tennis TJ and I play every once in a great while. So wish me luck I definitely need it.

Any tips are greatly appreciated!

This is my room

When Thayne and I first bought our home in Arizona, he pointed out one room in the house and said this is my room that I am going to decorate and you can't say anything about it. It is our family room. It is now painted green with dark wood trim and a beautiful mantle that he built. He picked out the furniture, not my favorite but very comfy. He has been so great about leaving all my little additions. The one thing that has been driving me crazy is the broken vertical blinds that were hanging when we bought the house. It has not really been a priority to change them but it still has been on my list of things to do or I mean for him to do since it is his room. When we went to Ikea last Saturday I found some curtains I thought would be great in the room and they would block all the light out when we watched a movie. Yesterday I found a rod that would go perfectly. I brought it home and grrrrr, it is to short. I knew I should have measured but I was counting on my eyeballs for picking the right size. Now one more trip to find the right size and then hopefully I can cross that off my list.

OH QUACK!

This was our fun surprise when we got home from school today. We had ducks swimming in the little bit of irrigation that we got. Jess and Wyatt were so excited they ran inside the house to get some bread to feed the ducks.







We tried not to scare them but as we got closer they feared for their safety and flew away.

to tickle or not to tickle the ivory

As I was reading " Rachel's " blog about the piano, it came at a time in my life when I have been trying to make a very, very difficult decision. (Kaye do not continue to read this you might cry). I have been fighting TJ with piano for many years now. They only way I can get him to practice is if he wants to go somewhere or do something. I will say "only if you practice piano", and then he does it. His piano teacher looks for cool songs for him to play just to keep him interested, but does not seem to be working. TJ has managed to talk his teacher out of doing finger power (I think that is finger exercises) and the only way I know about that is Samantha tattled. Usually when he practices I will listen to make sure I hear music but not really pay attention to the song. A few days ago when he was practicing it occurred to me that he was playing Wyatt's songs. Songs he was playing when Kaye was teaching him in Simi Valley at the age of 8. I told him to play the right songs and he turned into a 5 year old laying on the bench and saying I am not going to practice and you can't make me. Then he went into the tantrum of, I don't know why I have to do piano if I don't like it. It was an amazing site to see a 15 year old boy laying across the piano bench whining. He really is not making any progress and I don't know if I should keep paying every month if it is such a battle. He is so different than Samantha who lives on the piano and enjoys every second of it. (Kaye you would be proud). I am thinking of letting him quit. I don't think it would be just quit and that is it. I think he would have to do something else instead, like guitar lessons. The reason it is so tough for me to let him quit is because I always hear people say they wish their parents never let them quit. So I always said I would never let my kids quit so they could never say that. This is a very tough decision. I hope that I will have it figured out in the next month.

Oh Yum!

It seems like it was not long ago when I was looking at the popcorn popping on our fruit trees.


There are nectarines









and pomagranites starting to pop up. I don't see any plums yet but the tree is full of new leaves so I know they will be coming soon. I am not sure what else Thayne has planted. I am most excited about the pomigranites. We planted 2 trees and only 1 made it. The one tree still standing looks like it has alot of buds on it so hopefully we will see more than the 1 we got last year.

I'm So Excited.

Tuesday night, now dateless.

So Tuesday nights were to be my night that Wyatt and I get to hang out. I was looking forward to mom/son bonding. Tonight both girls are doing baptisms at the temple, TJ is at YM's running 3 miles, and we all know where Thayne is. So it is just me and Wyatt, until he asks if he can go swimming at Marco's (the boy who lives in front of us). I wanted to say NO, but then I thought how many kids can actually go swimming in April at 7:30 at night and not freeze to death. So I let him go and it is now 8pm and I need to see if I can get him home. I did get all the dishes done and a little laundry and now I sit and blog and wait for Thayne's phone call. I miss him. Next week Mexico should be HISTORY and I am so excited. We are not really sure where his next adventure will be but anywhere in the USA would be great, I am not going to be picky. Ok yes I am, I really want Phoenix. One can wish.

Pay at the Pump

I moved to Arizona almost 6 years ago. I remember very well 6 years ago when I was living in Simi Valley driving around in my Pewter (that was the name of the color) Suburban. Everything seemed like it was just a long drive to get to and it seemed like I was paying so much for gas. I can remember pulling up to the 76 station on Tapo and Cochran to get some gas. The price had just gone up to $1.75 and I thought it was outrageous. There was a guy getting gas in his car and I can remember him grumbling about the price of gas and I laughed and he looked at me and said "I bet filling that thing up has got to make you sick." I just wonder today what that man is thinking about filling up his tank. Today I almost choked when I was getting my gas at Safeway and it said I was getting a .10 discount, I was so excited until I saw I would be paying $3.11. (cough, cough). Now I look back, everywhere I drove in Simi was a rock throw away it wasn't really far at all. Everything here in Arizona is so stinkin far and takes a tank of gas. I figure it takes me almost $6 for a round trip to Rachel's house. I decided for now on I may be selling tickets to my kids to take them there. The Excursion is parked with a cracked muffler but I think even when it gets fixed it will stay parked for a while. I sure hope these prices go down before I go on vacation this summer.

I can remember when I was really little that there was something going on that you could only get gas every other day. Like if your license plate ended in odd you get gas on odd days and even numbers go on even days. I think that's what it was. Does anyone else remember that?