You can tell I've been in the "city" too long....

Ryan and I went for a nice walk at Crabtree Lake this evening.

Me: I can't believe someone is actually out here in the middle of all this beautiful scenery and busy on their Nextel!
Ryan: Honey, that's a bird.

Corben's baseball book....

I finally finished the book for Corben's baseball team that we're giving to his coach! Check it out!

Click here to see it!

I've been Tagged...

So I've been tagged and now you get to know more about me than you wanted :P

8 things I want to do before I die

• See the Northern Lights
• Be in the temple with all of my children
• See the pyramids
  
• Improve on several talents I've neglected
• Finish my personal history
• Go on a mission with my husband
• Get my house clean and decorated
  
• Sky dive
  

8 things I am passionate about

• Family
• My Savior
  
• Family history work
• Preserving family history
• Music
• Service
• Church
• Photography
  

8 common phrases heard in my house

• I forgot!
• MOM! MOM! MOM! MOM! MOM! MOM! (currently being said)
  
• RYAN! RYAN! RYAN! RYAN! RYAN! RYAN!
  
• I love you, but you drive me crazy! (I'm currently working to switch this to - You drive me crazy! but I love you.)
• Dade, can you.....
• Just love each other!
  
• Calgon, Take me (them) away!!
• Thanks! I love you!
  

8 recently read books

• Jesus the Christ - Talmage
  
• Who Loves Ella
  
• 1-2-3 Magic
• The Parenting Breakthrough
• Osbourne - Drawing Faces
• Currently reading New Testament and Book of Mormon
  
• Goodnight Moon
• Barnyard Dance
  

8 songs on my ipod/ fav songs - I don't have an ipod but I did just load songs on one for my mom this week.

• Look Up - Steven Kapp Perry
• Snowman songs - Inside Out
• Come What May - Nicole Kidman And Ewan McGregor
• Your Song - Elton John
  
• The Power of Heaven - Janice Kapp Perry
• MomSense - Anita Renfro
• 
  
• Anything from Hello Dolly, My Fair Lady, and Sound of Music
• The Only Kind of Love - Tamara Jeanne (my sister)
  

8 random things about me

• I have 8 less teeth than most adults my age
• I am the oldest of 9 children.
  
• I have been on TV or in the newspaper at least 10 times (7 tv, 3 news) on shows such as PM Magazine, CNN, local news - all for good things
• I am a VERY picky eater - I mean...I have a very distinct pallet.
  
• I always wanted to be an aeronautical engineer and an astronaut.
  
• I yodel (I even won money from Yahoo!)
• I have a really nasty scar behind my left ear that I love to tell people was from alien abduction, ear transplant, Siamese twin, tattoo removal, brain surgery, running with scissors, windshield wiper incident, etc.
  
• I can wiggle my ears....one at a time.
  

Strange looks.....

So, have you ever been somewhere and sworn that that total stranger just gave you a strange look. You look around but you're the only one standing there so it must have been you they were looking at. Then you check your shoes for toilet paper, your hair for that forgotten curler, your pants/shirt for that unnoticed baby stain....nothin'! Must just be them....they must just make that face at everyone. So you go on with your day but now and then you can't help but feel that people are staring just a bit harder than they should and talking a bit slower than you'd expect. Oh well, the world is filled with strange people, who am I to judge? Then it's time for carpool, you sit in line and smile as you pull up to pick up your child. The young man who opens the car door for your son looks at you funny and grins. Isn't that cute, he must have a crush....I'm too old for you, Honey! You chat with your sweet child all the way home and unload into the house. You head to the rest room for a quick break and happen to catch a glance of yourself in the mirror......sigh..........is it just a mom thing to wear the glasses your daughter ripped one arm off of two weeks ago and then to forget that you have them on, or at least that they don't sit right on your face? Oh well, .... at least some people got a good laugh today. Besides, who are they to judge...I guess I'm just one of those strange people the world is full of!

What-ever-this-week-is "in review"

Okay so since we've gotten back from our trip I just haven't gotten back into the swing of things. Let me try to fill you in on our life since California....









Laundry, dirty dishes, cleaning, changing diapers, chasing children, and not getting to any of it because my mom is upset that I didn't blog this week. :P Okay, there is more we've done....










For Family Home Evening last week we spent the evening at the park (I think we were all missing the sandy beaches). Our fearless Ella headed to the slides and had a blast. Interestingly enough, our little Sylvie LOVES the swings but they scare Ella to death!! So Ryan put them in a swing together and they both did fine.

Later in the week I spent a beautiful day with my sister-in-law Heather helping her out on Heritage Makers. We spent some time outside with the kids until Ella started having some asthma troubles. After they left I had to take her to the doctors and bring home a nebulizer for a couple of days. She has the fever/cold that's going around. Sylvie caught it on Sunday but is feeling much better.

Ryan and the boys did get to go the the races in Virginia on Saturday night. They had a great time. I was home with sick little girls.

Ryan has taken on the huge project of repainting the house. He started yesterday by powerwashing the house.....

Things powerwashing DOES remove:

1. Dirt from the house and the front bricks - how pretty
2. Whatever made our sidewalk a dark gray all these years (who knew?)
3. PAINT
4. WINDOWSILLS.........hmmm

Things powerwashing DOES NOT remove:

1. Acrylic paint left from painting the porch alien
2. Egg left from the Halloween egging 4 years ago (Bachelor Ryan didn't know that it's not okay to leave your porch light on and not leave candy.)

Ryan's also been working in our garden this week (I don't have a green thumb - my fake plants have leaves on the floor...seriously, they do....). It's so beautiful and we're already getting radishes, and the tomatoes and squash are almost ready! YEAH!! This year he's planted

1. tomatoes (different kinds)
2. pumpkins (the mega super big ones)
3. corn
4. beans
5. peppers (green and several hot varieties)
6. squash
7. cucumbers
8. zucchini
   
9. basil, oregano, parsley
10. radishes
11. carrots
12. onions
13. sunflowers
14. wild flowers
    

I also had a sweet moment with Ella this week. It was getting towards dark and she started pointing out the window. There in the front yard just feet from us were our rabbits sitting in a patch of clover eating flowers. We sat there for several minutes and watched them. Then Ryan took her outside to get a closer look. They got pretty close before the rabbits flipped up their white cotton tails and took off. I love our yard!

Okay, so that's it....until next time!

The conversation....

So, I often spend my time driving talking on the cell phone with some member of my family. To be safe I try to use the speaker phone though it often leads to some awkward hellos as there seems to be a pause on my end for some reason, we usually end up saying hello a few times and then ensuring we can both hear each other. So yesterday I decide to call my sister, Tammy, (she's a funny gal) to say hello as I was driving back from a friends. I had the car window down a bit so I wasn't sure if the phone had connected or not but heard some sort of sound so I said hello....here is the conversation that followed....

Me: Hello?
Tammy: Hello?
Me: Hey!
Tammy: Hey!
Me: What are you doing?
Tammy: What are you doing?
Me: Asked you first!
Tammy: Asked you first!
Me: huh?
Tammy: huh?
Me: Tammy, quit copying me
Tammy: Tammy, quit copying me
Me: Wait a second....
Tammy: Wait a second....
Me: Tammy, is this you?
Tammy: Tammy, is this you?
Me: I was beginning to think there was an echo but I can hear you breathing
Tammy: I was beginning to think there was an echo but I can hear you breathing
Me: Or is that the echo of my breathing?
Tammy: Or is that the echo of my breathing?
Me: (me breathing louder)
Tammy: (her breathing louder)
Me: You can't keep this up you know
Tammy: You can't keep this up you know
Me: Yodel-a-dee-hoo
Tammy: Yodel-a-dee-hoo
Me: You're good
Tammy: You're good
Me: Ogala-boogala
Tammy: Ogala-boogala
Me: blah da la ba me lo ba ga
Tammy: blah da la ba me lo ba ga
Me: hmmmm.....
Tammy: hmmmm.....
Me: (whispering) can you copy me now?
Tammy: (whispering) can you copy me now?
Me: Ok...I think it's an echo
Echo: Ok...I think it's an echo
Me: Dag nab it....I've been talking to myself this whole time....
Echo: Dag nab it....I've been talking to myself this whole time....
Me: ....I sure hope this isn't being recorded on her answering machine
Echo: ....I sure hope this isn't being recorded on her answering machine

It was! Sigh.

We've been on VACATION!!! YEAH!! - Part 1

Well, we're finally back and it was a GREAT vacation! I'll give you the run down...expect an extra long blog here - thank goodness for slide shows! Okay, so the plane ride over wasn't as terrible as it could have been though Ryan somehow managed to get each girl on the stretch she slept and I had them when they were awake and crazy. Luckily everyone around us was so kind and played with them, too. The weather in Sunny California was NOT sunny (except for the last half of our last day). There was so much cloud cover when we came in it looked like we were landing in the arctic and everyone there couldn't get over how cold it was (mid 60's). We headed to the beach for the day anyway after we got settled in and let the kids get their first view of the ocean on this side of the US. It was Ella and Sylvie's first time. Dade spent most of his time chasing little animals in the rocks and Corben had fun collecting things and building a sea wall. Ella just wanted to dump dirt on everyone's shoes. We took a walk down the pier and ate lunch and watched dolphins swim.

Then the boys headed up to Ryan's granddad's house to pick fresh fruit from his trees. They ate oranges and grapefruits, avocados, lemons and limes. He then took them to crush all the cans he had for recycling and gave them the money. They were so excited! Thursday we headed to DISNEYLAND!! It was so much fun. I finally had to give up going on the coasters with Dade and Corben. My stomach couldn't take it. Ryan took over and the boys had a blast. Meanwhile Ryan's mom and I took Ella to play at Goofy's playhouse. She LOVED it! We stayed all day in the park. It was so much fun! I got silhouettes done of the kids. They're so cool!

Ella must have gone on this slide 50 times! She kept shoving through the 10 kids in front of her and once down would run so funny back to the start. She had a great time and it was just as much fun to watch!

More to come...

Vacation - Part 2

Friday we went and visited the US Midway aircraft carrier and the Mormon Battalion Museum. The boys just loved the planes and running through the boat. At one point we did have a little scare. Most pathways through the ship are sealed off from the rest of the boat so that you don't get lost or go where you shouldn't. To allow for some air flow in one of the lower decks there was a plexi-glass door that was bolted shut but had a 7 inch gap at the top and bottom. Our quick little Ella made a mad dash and made it all the way under. Luckily Ryan had noticed her going under and caught her hand as she was standing up on the other side. It would have been difficult to find her and get to her if she'd made it any farther. That child has no fear! At the Mormon Battalion museum we got to watch a movie and dress up as soldiers. It was a great day.

Vacation - Part 3

Saturday Ryan and I headed over to the Temple in San Diego. It was amazing!! It was so nice to have some time together and to share it in such a beautiful place. While we were gone, Ryan's granddad took the boys out to ride his golf cart and hit some golf balls. We headed out to the beach for a nice sunset and some fun in the sand.

Vacation - Part 4

Sunday was a bit slower. We headed to church where they handed out Chocolate to the mothers YEAH! The boys surprised me with mother's day cards that Ryan's mom helped them make. My dear friend of 20 years, Shannon, lives in San Diego and was able to come and visit for a few hours. I haven't seen her in years and it was so great to catch up. Then we spent time with Ryan's grandparents and his aunt and uncle. Corben made fresh lemonade and orange juice for everyone with fruit he picked himself. It was so yummy! Monday was Seaworld. We got to feed and pet Dolphins and stingrays! There were so many animals to see and touch and plenty of great shows. The boys even got to enjoy a few rides. Monday night I stayed up while Ryan's mom taught me how to use her quilting machine and Dade went over to Granddad's to help him install his new fax.

Vacation - Part 5

Tuesday we headed back out to the beach to enjoy the only day of real sun. It wasn't super warm but it was warm enough. The kids finally got some real time in the water and we got a little sun. It was so much fun. We headed out Wednesday morning in the wee hours and finally arrived home Wed. afternoon. The girls were great on the plane (Ryan got them again while they slept) and everyone complimented up on our wonderful children. It was a fabulous week, but this morning it was back to life as usual (Corben late to school - I couldn't find my car keys!).

Here's some pics from our last day at the beach and some of the family we took this week.

We Love You! Can't wait to visit again!!

5-3-08 Week in Review

Well I'm publishing a day early but I've finished with my work for the day and had some time. It's another week gone and even closer to California!! I can't wait!! Corben had two big baseball games this week (The 2nd one I forgot about until I realized that it was time for the game to be starting. He missed a third of the game but was a really great sport about it.). His team did really well and Corben has hit the ball every game. (The coach also hit Corben with the ball while pitching this last game but he was a good sport about that, too.) Mom took Dade to scouts on Wednesday and since Corben was playing ball she took some time out with Ella at the park. I love how my mom always takes individual time with my kids. Corben got out at first but check out how twisted up the first baseman got!

Thursday we spent the day at Mark & Jamie's house taking pictures of Xander. I got a few of Ella, too. They have the best places in their yard for pictures! We also played with Ryan's dad's lighting equipment inside. It was a lot of fun.

Thursday night was my friend Tanya's baby shower. I picked up several of our friends in Knightdale and we all headed out to Wake Forest for the evening. I had to drive Ryan's suburban and it was really dark so for some reason (comic relief?) I kept missing all the turns on the way home. Sad thing is I had just finished telling them about how when I was pregnant I drove past my house twice. At first, they didn't believe me, I proved it was possible. UGH....at least everyone got a good laugh! Just goes to show you that I really don't ever get to talk to anyone in a car usually over the age of 12 so when I get into a good conversation I should probably be the passenger and not the driver! Oh, well. Friday I had RJ over and the kids were out of school so we ran a million errands....got birth certificates for the girls downtown, bought swimsuits for those who needed them, dropped off the dry cleaning, got Corben new Sunday pants, etc. (You can see how I'd forget there was a baseball game.) Saturday was get ready for our trip day. We've been cleaning and packing. The boys have been really good about helping. I think everyone is super excited!!

My conversation with Dade...

(For those of you who don't know, the main road to our rural neighborhood has a sink hole that has cut off all access since yesterday and is expected to keep the road shut until Sunday evening. The only alternative is a 15+ minute detour through back country roads. Quite annoying.....)

Me: Wow, I really took that little piece of road for granted.
Dade: The road's not granite, Mom, it's concrete.

(pause for laugh)

Me: Ha ha ha ha ha!!! That was funny, Dade!
Dade: It really would be cool if it was granite because then you could just use the road to write on a piece of paper.
Me: Huh? Dade....that's not Granite....that's Graphite!! ha ha ha ha ha
Dade:.....well I can say China!!! - (If you don't get this line, please see March's post The Grossest Moment of My Life.. for explanation. Of course, you may not get that one either. It's funny to me!!)