What's Been Goin' Down Here Abouts In Our Part Of Town

Put away the Kleenex, dry your eyes. I'm back. I never actually went anywhere. I have just been busy, tired and hot. It has been almost a week since I last posted. Wow. That is a long time.

We have had several people come through and look at the house. Thank you for all your prayers on our behalf. I am enjoying a clean house, like all over clean, and it has lasted for almost a week. It is nothing short of a miracle. And well, we just haven't been home much. That might have something to do with it too.



I was really craving avocados the other day for lunch. I had 4 that I had just bought at the store 2 days before. I cut them all open and this is what they looked like inside. I was really mad. Mad mad.



My cousin Jennifer came home from her mission in Guatemala. Here is a little video of the family celebration to welcome her home:



The kids and I went to the Aquarium last week. Emily and I went back today with the Activity Day girls. Here is a video of my children trying to torture innocent marine life. There is some unknown kid in the video. No idea where he came from. Thankfully he didn't make it home with us.



Aubrey got new sunglasses.

We went to the Museum Of Fine Arts and saw the special "Monet to Picasso" exhibit. Steve and the 3 older kids loved it. I spent my time there trying to keep monster baby quiet and trying to avoid destroying priceless Renoir and Matisse masterpieces. I have decided that I need to go back by myself and have a looksie.


We have done a ton more but I will only bore you with the highlights. Peace out!
(that is a really goofy way to end my post, I know, but I am so tired TY-ERD, that is all I could come up with.)(stupid. i've got to come up with something better than that. i'll tell you when i do. peace out? whatever. or as aubrey would say, WHATEV!)(i'm just kind of rambling now, it's been a long day and like i said, i am tired. so i'm just gonna go now. really. bye.)(peace out)(shut up already)(you are so annoying)

WebCam Wednesday - MINE!

So I know that my 3 older kids did naughty stuff when they were really little. However I don't recall them walking about in a constant state of naughtyness. Like their little sister Addy does. A CONSTANT state of naughtyness. I told you about the fingernail polish and face powder. It is like one thing after another with this kid. Just like yesterday. She flushed almost a whole roll of toilet paper down the toilet in the hall bathroom on the main floor. The same toilet her sister Aubery did the same thing too about 2 1/2 years ago. If you recall, that left extensive damage and took over 3 months to repair. This time it wasn't so bad. We were home when it happened, we were all just down in the basement and didn't realize it until the water started gushing into the basement. Steve was out in the desert shooting with his scouts. I really think I lost it for a minute there. I was thinking it was going to be like last time and we were going to have to tear down drywall and remove and replace flooring like last time. Thankfully it isn't that bad and thankfully I have wonderful neighbors willing to help and keep a sane mind while I am sitting there dumbstruck. I have someone coming to look at the house later this afternoon so send a little pray up my way that I can have it together by then. And that my carpet won't be stinking up the entire house. And that the people will make an offer. Let's see, what else can I have you pray about..... (by the way I don't recommend googling naughtyness to see if you spelled it correctly. I think it might be misspelled, but I didn't want to click on any of the links to see.)

Tuesday Morning Musings - Cause I Just Feel Like Yackin'

First of all I'm about to go crazy because this song is stuck in my head and it is stuck good and hard:


This is my kids favorite song and they play it all the time. ALL THE TIME. Just yesterday, Emily taught herself how to play it on the guitar. Right Emily (I know she is going to be reading this later) you can play it on the guitar. Blessedly she plays it along with the song as it is playing on her CD player, so I heard this song about 562 times yesterday. It's a very lovely and beautiful song but it somehow loses some of its appeal after hearing it 562 times in a 12 hour period. I've been singing it over and over, and I can't just sing it the normal way, so I sing stuff like, "Hey there Miss Addy what's it like in Salt Lake City". And the whole time I am thinking.....Andy......(thought with a disgusted snarl).

Zac just left for his 2nd day of Cub Scout Day Camp. He had so much fun yesterday. I am kind of missing him though. He was out of town all last week with Steve and now he was gone all day yesterday and will be gone all day today. Did anyone notice that in one of my comments I said Steve was out of town last week and no one came and killed me in my sleep? Thank you all for being so nice and thoughtful.

Last night Zac begged me to buy him a Lunchable to take to Day Camp today. He said that yesterday all the boys were making fun of him and his other friend because they were the only ones who had lunches made by their mothers and everyone else had Lunchables. Seriously? So I woke up today to go on my morning walk and decided I would walk to Walgreen's and buy him a Lunchable. I thought I should tell Steve where I was going just in case I didn't come back so he would know what to tell the police (yeah, I have issues, did you click on the "killed in my sleep" link above"?). I explained to him why I was going there and this is the conversation that followed:

Steve: They were making fun of him for that? He should have called them "cancer patients" because they ate processed food.

Me: Are you making fun of me?

Steve: (with a deadpan face) Why is that making fun of you?

Me: (stare) (raised eyebrows)

Steve: (with a deadpan face) How would my saying that be making fun of you?

Me: (stare) (raised eyebrows) (thinking: he got home late last night, he probably didn't read it)

Me: Because I said something like that on my blog yesterday.

Steve: (with a deapan face) I don't even know what Gatorade you're talking about.

Me: You ARE making fun of me!


So, ummm Walgreen's doesn't open until 8:00. So I decided to go next door to 7-11. Let me just tell ya, there are some mighty scary people at the 7-11 that early in the morning. We never go to 7-11 so I don't know if that is the normal crowd or if all the freaky people just convene there at the wee hours of the morning. They only had one kind of lunchable there and it was a small one and I didn't want to send Zac off with cancer food and make him be hungry all day, so I walked up the street to Alberston's and bought the dang Lunchable. Bratty little Lunchable toting scouts.

Anyway I left the safety of my little neighborhood and walked all the way to Alberson's and back and I wasn't accosted once! I am so proud and relieved all at the same time.

Monday Morning Musings - 1/2 The World's Problems Could Be Solved If People Just Drank More Water

Friday. My house was a disaster. Addison decided it would be fun to dump an entire bottle of hot pink fingernail polish on the carpet in my craft room. All in one spot. I moved her away from the mess and immediately went to the computer to look up how to clean fingernail polish out of carpet, on the internet. While I was doing that she found a thing of loose face powder and dumped it out all over the carpet in the other room (I only have 2 1/2 rooms with carpet, why can't she dump anything on the concrete or hardwood floors?). I picked her up to clean the powder off of her and at that very second my phone rang. It was my agent saying someone wanted to come see the house. I'm not complaining, because I'm glad they're lookin', but....it just wasn't the best time. That's ok though. The girls and I made a mad dash through the whole house and got it clean just in time.

I have decided to start Positive Visualization Therapy. I don't know if that's a real term, I think I just made it up. But anyhoo, I am visualizing us selling the house this month and moving into our new house in August. I am writing the closing and moving dates on my calendar. I am starting to pack everything up. Because we ARE moving in August. I just know it. And anytime now someone is going to magically appear and buy my house. I am saying magically because no one is actually looking at my house so in order for anyone to buy it they will just have to magically appear. Ooops. I've already gone and messed up my Positive Visualization. I hate it when I do that.

I bought a new toothbrush and last night was the first time I used it. I accidentally bought a compact head. I feel like I am brushing my teeth with Addison's toothbrush. Since when did buying a toothbrush become so complicated? While I was brushing my teeth I started thinking about how far the toothbrush has come in the last few decades. They really have come a long way. Once a year or so ago I was out of town and forgot my toothbrush so I just bought a cheap one at the store. It was the old fashioned kind that just had the plain straight bristles. I could not stand brushing my teeth with that thing. I didn't feel like it was getting my teeth clean at all.

On the subject of teeth and things that clean the teeth, what's up with toothpaste these days? Can I not just get plain old regularite toothpaste? Whitening toothpastes make my teeth sensitive. I would rather have nasty yellow teeth than have ultra sensitive ones. But I have to stand on the toothpaste aisle for 15 minutes staring like an idiot before I can find toothpaste that isn't whitening. That's the problem we have in this country, nothing can just be plain old regular anymore. It really gets on my last nerve.

Like sugar-free stuff, for instance. We don't do sugar free at our house. I would rather have hyped up kids than kids with cancer from the artificial sweeteners they put in EVERYTHING nowadays. I seriously don't buy anything sugar free, but I don't buy that much with sugar in it in the first place. Anyway, I ran into the store the other day to quickly buy cough drops. I just grabbed some and paid and left. I got in the car and looked at them. They were sugar free. It really made me mad. The best part is that it says over consumption can cause loose bowls. Mmmmm. Nice. Just what I've been looking for in a cough drop. I'm thinkin', Ok, well most people probably won't over consume cough drops, but what about those people out there who eat 10 different sugar-free (by sugar free I mean it has an artificial sweetener in it) products everyday? I think that would count as over consumption. The other day Steve bought a new kind of Gatorade and I was reading the package to see why it was so new and special and it is because it is low calorie. So I immediately started reading the ingredients and sure enough it had sucralose and acesulfame in it. Why can't people just drink plain old water?

Sorry, I just started rambling about things that get on my nerves and I just kind of got carried away. Now get up off your booty and go drink a glass of water.
W-A-T-E-R. WA-TER.
That thing that comes out of your kitchen sink.

Thank you, I'll be here all week. Until next time, have a fabulous day!

If Wishes Were Trees, Trees Would Be Fallin'

Current Song Stuck In My Head:

Ahhhhh, what would it be like to go back to the 80's for just one day? Back when life was so simple and my dance moves actually fit in.

Flashback Friday - Little Pink Playhouse

Allyson, Kristy & Farrah

This picture was taken in our little pink playhouse that used to be in the back yard of the house we grew up in. I have a lot of fun memories of that little playhouse.

Permission To Work Them Like Little Slaves? Permission Granted.

Every morning before breakfast we have a thought and family prayer. We get our thoughts from the book "Stand A Little Taller" which has a different scripture and then a quote that goes along with that scripture from Gordon B. Hinckley for each day of the year. I was so excited when I read today's quote. I made sure my children were listening and I read it twice, very slowly for emphasis. Now I'm going to type it up in bold letters and hang it in the kitchen. And every time I hear a complaint about doing chores, I'm just pointing to the sign. Here's the quote:

"Children need to work with their parents-to wash dishes with them, to mop floors with them, to mow lawns, to prune trees and shrubbery, to paint and fix up and clean up and do a hundred other things where they will learn that labor is the price of cleanliness and progress and prosperity."

Stuck In My Head - Just About A Mile From Texarkana

When we were growing up, my mother used to sing this song to us all the time. Now my sisters and I sing it to our kids, and my mom sings it to her grandchildren. I never knew it was a CCR song until today. I love CCR, how did I not know that? I guess you learn something new everyday.

I've Given Up And Have Decided To Steal The Thunder

Introducing Mr. Baron:

I said before that I didn't want to steal any one's thunder. But ya know, come on. What century do we live in? How hard can it be to send us a picture of the little cutie pie. I told my mom when she arrived yesterday that she better take a picture with her phone and send it to me immediately. She did, but it took it's own sweet time getting here. She sent it early yesterday afternoon and the picture came through to my phone at precisely 3:59 AM. This is my sister Kristy's newest addition. His name is Baron. I can't get a pin down of the middle name. I don't know if they are still undecided or what. They were trying to decide between Earl (after my dad) and Scott (after my sister's husband). I personally think they should give him a title and call him Baron of Earl, but they weren't too keen on the idea. I think they are wrong. Think about how much more distinguished he would be going through life with a title. I wish I had a title.

Anyway, he just looks cute enough to eat. I can't wait to see him in person. Cute little Baron.

WebCam Wednesday - My So Called Life 24/7

This video was taken in May, way back when the kids were still in school. They are out of school now and therefore I am blessed with this 24/7. Anyone wanna come visit for the summer?