Girl's Night

It's so fun to have girlfriends! Here we are at the Albion Cafe for a little birthday dinner. We have three birthdays in February - Trista, Jan, and mine. We are not really into the day-to-day kind of thing so it's wonderful to get together once a month and our one weekend in the summer to catch up and just enjoy the friends we have been since Jr. High!

Well - Trista and I have been friends since - I don't remember a time we weren't. I remember going to her house and playing with her Holly Hobby EZ Bake oven, and then we went skiing almost every weekend in the winter during elementary school.

I think the hub our little blueberry group is Emy. She is the one that brought everyone together and keeps us together. She brought me in during Jr. High. They mis-spelled my name so I got the bottom locker under her (Emy Peterson - then) and she kept dropping things on my head. I think she felt sorry for injuring me so often, so pretty soon we were fast friends.

I think Emy was all ready friends with Jan and Cindy from 6th grade. I don't know how Jennifer came in - I do know Jen and I were best friends in 8th grade because of athletics. I spent a lot of time at her house and was always envious she had double doors to her bedroom.

Stacie moved in the summer before 8th grade and was in Trista's ward. They became best friends and so Stacie was automatically part of our group.

Kim was our latest edition - she moved in the summer before our Jr. year. She and Emy met and there you go.

It has been fun to live here with some of the Blueberries - but sad we don't see each other very much. Amazing that even though we are all the same age - we are at such different stages of life. Wish we could see each other more and just hang out - but hey - life happens!

Love you gals! Can't wait for the summer get together!

Just For Fun

Here is my sweet tornado - sleeping! She is a walking disaster, she'll just walk along, grab something, throw it, and keep walking without thinking about it at all. She is hard to keep up with, but oh so cute. She is our only child that has to have things to sleep with. Every night she must have her: 1)Moo Cow, 2) Lucy the Leopard, 3) Pink Face Blanket, 4) Big Pink Fuzzy Blanket. She snuggles down in all of that softness and falls to sleep. I guess it really works because she was our best sleeper as a baby and is still our best sleeper now. She really is so cute. We can't help but love her even though her superhero name is DESTRUCTOR!

Valentine's Day

I was very sick when Jacee had to take her Valentine's Box to school - so luckily daddy came through. They both worked very hard on it and I think it turned out darling. Jacee loved it!

Here is our Valentine's Day Breakfast. All the kids wanted action shots. We have heart waffles with strawberries and whipped creme - ok so I was the only one who actually had that. Jack had syrup on his waffle.

Jacee had strawberries and dipped them in sugar.

Maddie just wanted the scrambled eggs. She just helped herself to the entire bowl. She's never done that before - I think she just thought the bowl was extra pretty.

Anyway, we had a fun breakfast and then Grama Binki and Grampa Brent came over and brought the kids fun Valentine's and took us to lunch at Al's Pizza - then we went to the Ice Cream Shoppe afterwards. It was very fun. We're so glad we live so close to them. We sure do love them!

Chocolate - In Many Forms

This year may have been a little low on the chocolate side of things for Valentine's Day and my birthday, but I figure I would rather have Lady Godiva in my family room than a box of Godiva Chocolates anyday.

Here is Maddie this morning. She had been dressed twice but I guess this was just a naked day. And then to top it off - out came the horse. John and I enjoyed watching our little Lady Godiva bounce and laugh the morning away. I'm glad I'm blessed with a happy family!

It Can Kill You?

So, I have gotten the flu every year - the 24 hour kind. Miserable, body aches, fever, you know the kind, and then just when you think you can't be any more miserable - it's the next day and you weren't really even sure you had it.

Well, I never thought I would get the kind that could kill you!

This week I got the serious INFLUENZA - Type A. I got really sick Sunday afternoon - right after my primary meeting. The worst headache ever, body aches, stabbing back pain, and high fever, but chills that made me think I was going to freeze to death - and then top that with vomiting and diarrhea.

I suffered through the nigh with NyQuil thinking I would be ok in the morning - not so - if anything it was worse. John had to leave town so things were looking bad. Luckily, our down-the-road neighbor offered to take the kids. She has them from 11am-6pm and then my in-laws took the kids overnight.

I thought I was going to die. When I stopped throwing up enough to breathe I just laid in bed and cried. I tried medicine I could find - tylenol, advil, hydrocodone (worked with one dose that gave me two hours of relief), finally on Tues I had my dad call in a prescrption for Tylenol with Codiene - that made me so violently sick I vowed to never take medication again!

Anyway - luckily my in-laws kept my kids dressed, fed, and going to school. John kept asking if I had made a dr. appt. No - one because I was just too worn out to actually find a number and call, and two - what does the dr. do for the flu? Tell you you have the flue and send you home with medicine - which is what I thought I had been doing and it wasn't doing such a great job until then.

Well, by Thursday, John drove home by 3pm and had had it - luckily using my dad's name - we got a dr. appt for 4:50pm. Oh the wonder drugs at the actual dr. office!!!!!! The dr. said there was such a bad flu going around people were being hospitalized (what? for the flu?) even when they had had their flu shots. Back to the wonder drugs - I had to survive the brain-probing swab up my nose - twice! but got a postitive result so I got the heavenly nausea shot and the pain killer shot right in my derierre! Jacee couldn't quite giggling about that one.

Anyway, John knew I was in bad shape when I actually didn't say no to the shots. That night was heaven. I ate a little, drank a lot (the dr. told me if I didn't get fluids in me I would have to come the next day for a couple of rounds of I.V.s because I was so dehydrated and if you know me you know that wasn't really going to happen!)

The next morning I thought I should be good to go! I woke up and made the kids breakfast and this took everything out of me. Luckily, John was home, so I took some more medication, and slept all day again.

Today seems to be going ok. I am not nauseated and I think my fever is gone, but I am just weak and tired. The kids have been playing with each other and I've been able to nap on and off. We'll see how the rest of the day goes.

Oh - BTW - this flu is so bad my entire family has to take the flu medication that cost a ga-zillion dollars so they won't get it either. My advice - if you start having flu-like symptons - just go to the dr. immediatly and save yourself some agogony and pain!

Family Pics

Here is my little model. Jacee has loved getting her picture taken since birth. The photographers at kiddie kandid knew her by name. This was heaven for her!


I love family pictures, and thanks to my mom - we got some cute old fashion ones. The photographer worked so hard to get a good one of Maddie - finally I told him that if I only took pictures of her smiling - I wouldn't have any of her - so here it is.

Jacee loved the entire experience. He let her do two poses since Maddie was being so hard. She still talks about it and can't wait to pose again.

Once Jack heard he could have boxing gloves - there was no other option. I think it turned out pretty cute - he did have a hard time holding still and not actually boxing during the picture.



You can't blame me for trying - at least we have photos of her right?

Random 25

I was tagged by my nephew Jogus - and what I wouldn't do for that boy! Hey is pretty funny so I thought I'd better get on it so here are 25 random things about me.

1. No one can really describe my eye color. One time they were described as a kind of grey - that is the description I agree with the most - even though my driver's license says blue/green.

2. I am about 75% grey.

3. I love to drive my mini-van - I don't car if it's not fancy.

4. I have had hair extensions. (1995)

5. I have 7 fake teeth - and they can't be bleached! So I need 7 new ones that are porcelain.

6. I make up my own words to about every song I know, and I love to sing loud and proud - can't carry a tune so it drives my husband crazy. He once asked me if I even knew what the notes meant in the hymn book (no, I don't!)

7. I would love to grow up to be a combination of my mom and my mother-in-law. Thoughtful, loving, and happy.

8. I think my husband thinks I'm bi-polar.

9. One of my biggest weaknesses is gossip - I'm working on it.

10. I secretly laugh when Maddie throws a big fit - it's kinda cute the way she throws herself down on the floor.

11. I do not like people to point out that I have a messy house or messy kids.

12. I think I'm a good mom, but worry that my kids will have a strong testimony to help them when they are teens.

13. I wish I could afford a cook. (someone like Brent Black)

14. I have grand plans that usually never materialize - or at least materialize the way I have envisioned.

15. I sometimes eat cookies or cake while watching the biggest loser.

16. I love it when I do something and someone says, "That reminds me of your mother!"

17. I miss all the love and attention I got while teaching school and directing ballroom teams.

18. I worry that we won't be able to afford college tuition for our children and I want them to get a college degree almost more than anything.

19. I sometimes pick things out of my teeth with a scrap of paper.

20. I love to know everything about everyone!

21. I hate to lose at games and being married to my husband has guaranteed me a life of never winning again!

22. I do not like talking on the phone - I am a face to face person.

23. I volunteer for things knowing that I could never do it without my husband's help.

24. I do not like long toe nails and it secretly grosses my out when people have long enough toe nails to do a "french pedicure".

25. I do not know how to make gravy and probably never will because my husband is so good at it.

I tag: John, Sayda, Karen, Jen - let me know when you've posted!