Thursday, October 30, 2008

Eyeball cupcakes....

For Ian's birthday on Wed. he wanted me to make cupcakes for his class. I normally just use box mixes for my cake because they are so moist and you really cant mess them up but for some reason I wanted to do a batter from scratch. I got on this website called Cupcakes Take the Cake and she had posted a recipe for cupcakes from the Magnolia Bakery in New York. Oh - My - Heck (as they say here in Utah) I seriously could have eaten the entire bowl of raw batter. Unbelievable and so easy. Im going to post the recipe on my recipe blog too because I will have to use that one again and again and again.
I needed something easy for Ians cupcakes because I didnt have a lot of time so I stuck chocolate/caramel Eyeballs on each cupcake. I thought they turned out cute and he said his classmates loved them which is all that matters of course. It turned out when I started making them that I was out of just about everything so I ran to the corner market and bought a few things, came back and realized I was out of something else, ran back to the market for that, came back and couldnt find my cupcake liners, ran back to market for those. The girl that works there probably thought I had lost it because by then, I felt like I had......she asked me this morning as I was grabbing a sprite for Evan (who is sick) "hey, did you ever get those cupcakes made?" Yeah, rough day. The things we do for our kids.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Happy Birthday to my Little Man.....

Well, today is the day! Ian is officially 8 years old. Im at a loss for words when I try to describe how I feel about it. He is growing up so fast and pretty soon he wont be a little boy anymore. Ian has given me so much joy since his birth 8 years ago. It is hard for me to imagine what my life was like before he was in it. Nothing has ever come close to the feeling I had that night when they laid him on my chest. Nothing else mattered in the world at that moment......it was just amazing. I just want to write a few things about Ian that I love. It's only a few because Im sure I could write a book on this subject.

1. His witty sense of humor
2. His smile
3. The way he tells me he loves me and hugs me like Im the most
important person in the world to him.
4. His intelligence
5. His tenderness
6. His spirituality
7. His soft squishy ears
8. His negotiation skills




Those are just a few....... Ian is an amazing individual and makes me laugh daily. Here is a little bit of a conversation that still has me laughing! This took place yesterday.....
mom: Ian, who wrote this on your folder (it said "I am dork"...I was just curious)
Ian: That depends
mom: depends on what?
Ian: well, what answer would make you the most mad?

Always looking for the best answer, always wanting to please, never wanting to get in trouble. That is Ian for sure.

I love you Ian Kenneth....I hope your 8th birthday is the best ever and that you never ever forget how much your mom loves you!

YES! .....

I finally ran for 2 miles today! This is very exciting for me....nevermind how long it took me to do it, I'll work on that later. Im just happy to have actually done it. One more mile to go and I will reach my goal of being able to run 3 miles a day. After that my goal will be to complete the 3 miles under a certain time. Im not even sure what time I want that to be but for now I am running a 15 minute mile which is ssslllllooooowwww! Anyway, just wanted to share my good news!

Monday, October 27, 2008

Singing Makes Us Happy.....

I just had the last rehearsal for my choir performance last night..... it was kinda sad but I am excited to sing in the Tabernacle on Saturday. We have worked hard. Last night we were recorded for a CD which was cool. It was a bit uncomfortable as they crammed us into the chapel and shut all the doors in order to keep all the sound in. Normally we fill the chapel and the overflow but we all squished into the chapel last night. It was hot and someone close to me was not wearing enough deodorant.... Anyway, Im excited to hear the cd so I can hear how we actually sound. My parents will be in town this weekend so my mom is coming the hear us sing. Dad opted out...shock....but will be babysitting the babies so that everyone else can attend. Thanks Dad. We will be celebrating Ian's 8th birthday on Sunday with a big lunch here at our house. Ian has requested Broccoli Cheese potato soup so we are having a soup lunch. More on that later.

Speaking of Ian, it was brought to my attention at church yesterday that the musical gene has been passed on to him. For those that dont know, on my mom's side of the family my aunt, uncle, (aunt Debbie, uncle Barry) and at one time, my Grandmother all sing/sang in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. On my dads side, his biological father was a professional singer and one of his sisters (my aunt Alice) also sings professionally. His other sister (my aunt Chrissy) also has an amazing voice! Ok, so now that you know the background, the primary was practicing for their upcoming program yesterday and after Sunday School I went in the chapel to find a seat with the kids. Evan's teacher stopped me and said "Im Evans teacher, but I was sitting next to your other son (Ian) during the practice and I wanted to tell you that he has an incredible voice~ His pitch is almost perfect and he even sings with some vibrato!" I was stunned actually.....I mean Ive heard him sing and he is always on tune but Ive never heard him really sing like that. I was pretty proud. The funny thing is that I have heard Evan sing before when he didnt know I was listening and if he werent so shy about it, I have often thought that Evan sings pretty well too..... Im happy that they have musicality and a love for it as well. I have always wished I had done more with it.

I just wanted to remember this little morsel of information so that I can share it with Ian later in his life when he doesnt want to sign up for high school choir! Ha!

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Boo.....A Week Early....

Here is a little preview of the kids Halloween costumes. Nothin fancy I assure you but cute nonetheless. You know, since the kids really don't get enough candy on the actual holiday, our church decided to do a "trunk-or-treat" the week before (tonight) to make sure that they all got enough sugar to justify using Ritalin. No really, it was just a little trunk-or-treat....only about 10 cars and now the kids are REALLY excited for the actual trick or treating they will enjoy next Friday. So here are a couple of pics taken on our way to the party....Unfortunately I wont get to do my before and after pictures that I normally take on Halloween this year, cause I'm working which I'm sure Ive mentioned more than necessary....
Got a busy week ahead as my parents are coming to town on Thursday, Ian's birthday is Wednesday so that means treats for class. Halloween on Friday of course. My choir performance Saturday and a big lunch for Ian's birthday on Sunday.....sometime in between my 3 "jobs" I have to find time to buy Ian's birthday gifts as well. Oh yeah and clean my house. Yikes. I may not be blogging much this week....sorry.


Here are a couple of random pictures I took this week while watching Soren...... Sweet thing!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Bunko Night....

Can I just say how much fun I had tonight? I was invited by Kristin, a girl that I go to church with, to come to her house for Bunko night. I had played Bunko a couple of times while I lived in Arizona. I was only a sub for my cousin Marcy's group so I only played when they were going to be missing someone. I remember it was a lot of fun so I was totally on board with going tonight. It was great fun and I even won a prize....legitimately! Thanks to Kristin for inviting me and I signed up to continue with the group which means I will have to host it one month. I feel like Im moving into a different catergory of life where I actually get to start having one (a life that is) outside of my house and children occasionally. Exciting stuff huh? Next game I'll take some pictures of the crazy ladies....

Saturday, October 18, 2008

At The Park....

What a gorgeous day! Thankfully, the weather improved from last weekend..... Today we had planned on making a trip to Logan to visit some friends that we havent seen in about 5 years. Sadly, Melanie called yesterday to report she had come down with the flu so we had to cancel the plans. Hopefully she feels better soon and we can try again!

We didnt have anything to do today (for once) so Denver went fishing and Im not sure what I did really except that it amounted to NOTHING which is something that I rarely get a chance to do! Believe me, I enjoyed it thoroughly. Sometime around 5pm, we headed to the park to enjoy the last few hours of the day. We used to live right across the street from this park and I love to go there with the kids. I dont think we have ever taken Addie though so she had a lot of fun on the "wings" and the "lides".... as the sun started retreating, we ended the day feeding the geese. Here are a few pictures of the fun...
I love Fall and wish it would stay this season forever sometimes. Ian has been on Fall break from school all week....he is off all of next week too. Evan was off Thurs and Fri and will be off on Monday as well. We have officially purchased Halloween costumes for the 3 of them.....more on that after the Holiday. I wont be able to trick or treat with the kids this year as I have to work. Im pretty bummed about it but there isnt anything I can do to change it.....At least I will be here to get them all ready to go! We bought easy costumes this year that dont require me to use stage makeup....this will eliminate a lot of time.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Handsome 1st Grader....

Evans new pictures have arrived. Here is the handsome little man......he looks so grown up in this picture!


Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Our First Cub Scout.....

Here is Ian, our very first scout. As you can see he is very proud....and excited. We are headed to his first Pack Meeting!

Risk....

Last night I went to a semi-private voice lesson with my 8th grade choir teacher and current choir director. I didnt sign up because I think Im a great singer nor do I think she can make me a great singer. I just want to learn how to sing better. So, the session went great and I learned some good tools to help me. There were just 5 women in there with me so it was nice that I wasnt singing completely alone and yet I still felt like I was getting personal attention. I enjoyed it and signed up to take her level 2 class next month.

My mom made the comment that she couldnt believe I would dare sing in front of someone by myself like that....she didnt think she could ever do it. While I was there I noticed a large quotation on the wall that struck me because it answers her comment as to why a person might put themselves out there like that. And, because I am sort of collecting good thoughts that I come across, I decided I would post it here. It kind of goes along with the Sir Francis Drake quotation that I posted a couple of days ago......

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool,
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out to another is to risk involvement,
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return,
To live is to risk dying,
To hope is to risk despair,
To try is to risk failure.
But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.
He may avoid suffering and sorrow,
But he cannot learn, feel, change, grow or live.
Chained by his servitude he is a slave who has forfeited all freedom.
Only a person who risks is free.
The pessimist complains about the wind;
The optimist expects it to change;
And the realist adjusts the sails."


- William Arthur Ward

Quotes and Poetry....

I love it when I come across a meaninful quote or piece of poetry that moves me. This is the main reason for my "Quotes that I love" section on my sidebar. The only problem, which I have realized a little late, is that as I change quotes on there I lose the one I had before. So, in order to file these little gems, I have created a new label and as I change the quote on the sidebar, I will post the old one in an actual post so that I can refer to them when I need to. I just wish there was a way to categorize them within the label....oh well. For now, this is why you will see random posts with a piece of poetry or a quotation and nothing else. Im not trying to be deep or profound, just trying to be organized!

Hugh B. Brown Quote

"Sometimes during solitude I hear truth spoken with clarity and freshness, uncolored and untranslated it speaks from within myself in a language original but inarticulate, heard only with the soul, and I realize I brought it with me, was never taught it nor can I effectively teach it to another."

Hugh B. Brown-Eternal Quest, Bookcraft, 1956, p. 435

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Nicola McGarrity......

Nicola celebrated her birthday this past Saturday Oct 11th. She and Jeff have been together for 8 years I think....maybe longer? Nicola is the nicest person in the world and my kids LOVE her. She works with autistic children everyday which is amazing....she takes care of my brother and we love having her in our family! Hope you had a Happy Birthday Nicola.....

Sunday, October 12, 2008

A Thought To Share......

Sometimes I find myself feeling sorry for my situation. Angry that life hasnt treated me more fairly. What did I do to deserve this? Worried and anxious......I end up trying to place blame and then I find myself in an uglier place than when I started. Today at church a lesson was taught that incorporated this poem below. I was very moved by it. Although her lesson was not about the things I am mentioning here, this poem reminded me that no matter what life throws at me, I can only grow from its experiences. That without the turbulence, I wouldnt know or understand peace. Without the disappointments, I wouldnt appreciate the successes. Doesnt it always seem like when things are going well, something comes along to upset everything? You could blame Murphys Law.....I know I do a lot. However, read this poem and think about it with the perspective that perhaps we are given tough times in order to keep us humble and appreciative. To help us see what is important in this life and to continue learning and growing instead of "getting comfortable" and not progressing. Just a thought that I wanted to share with you today because it touched me.......


Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love
.

Sir Francis Drake - 1577

Old Man Winter is Here......Boo!

So this is what we woke up to this Sunday morning.....about 2 inches of SNOW.....Blech! Now dont get me wrong, I dont mind the first snow storm of the season but hello, it isnt even the season for snow yet! It is still Fall....Autumn.....time for changing and falling leaves, the smell of winter COMING. I feel like I just got jipped out of half of my favorite season. Im sure it will all melt and warmer temps will prevail for a little longer but I was a little bummed this morning.

This little snippet slide show is of Addison showing off her new dress and tights. She is already very excited about wearing new clothes (uh-oh) and was prancing around here like a princess this morning. I took a few pictures and she was more than happy to oblige in posing for me.
Lastly, here is a picture of me and my girlie taken by Evan. Hope you all had a nice Sunday....we enjoyed ours in spite of the weather.....

Friday, October 10, 2008

Whittier Idol.....

Ian's school put on their version of American Idol today. They do this every year and this is the first time I have ever been to one. Ian has been working hard on the song that his class performed. It was a song called "Be Nice to Your Brother" (meaning mankind). The song was done with an African music background and I have to say it was really cute. I took pictures but ended up being too far away to really get any good shots....I should have video recorded it, duh. I guess I will remember to do that for the next one. I cried like a baby too....good thing Ian couldnt see me! The mom next to me patted my leg, she probably thought I was pretty pathetic.. Oh well, I cant help it! I love my kids so much and watching them put their hearts into something so sweet is just too much for this mom. Ive been an emotional wreck all week anyway....maybe its because Ian is about to turn 8 and he has had a rough week at school himself. He inherited his mothers tendency to talk a lot and has gotten into trouble a bit this week. His teacher has had to isolate him from the rest of the class at his own table to help him focus. I can remember many report cards coming home from my teachers with comments about how I talk to my friends too much. "she is too social", "she doesnt focus on school because friends are more important"... etc etc. Anyway, Ian is a lot like me in this regard so I am trying to help him the best I can. Seeing him up there today singing his heart out with his class, well, I just love him so much.....Okay enough.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

All I Want For Christmas.....

Evan finally gave up his other front tooth. Not without a fight though.....as you can see by the red ears and the tear drop on one cheek. Poor baby......he looks so cute like this dont you think? I think he is going to have humongous teeth by the looks of that gap! We'll soon find out.....

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Misc Stuff......


This weekend was General Conference for our church. What a perfect weekend for it too with all the rain! I guess it wasnt much fun for the people who actually traveled downtown to watch it in person....but for the rest, it was an even better excuse to stay in. Unfortunately it is difficult to watch conference in a home with little kids. I am not one to make them watch it either and so thank heavens for DVR machines! Ian asked me today though why we werent watching it....oops.... I told him I recorded it to watch later and he asked if he could watch it with me. Wow. Didnt see that coming! I did watch a talk or two today and was excited to see my aunt and uncle standing right next to each other in the choir! That made it easy to find them while they were singing.....
We decorated the house for Halloween this weekend. Thats always fun. I added a couple of new things this year much to kids excitement. I figure by the time they are teenagers I will have enough stuff to make the house look really cool......and then they probably wont give a hoot about it. Oh well.... I love the smell of Fall. Especially after a good rain storm..... it is such a nostalgic time of year for me. Of course we were left with snow in the mountains.....Winter is not far away.



This is our neighbors cat Conan.....this cat is so cool. I love kittys but Ian is so allergic the we cant have one so I decided I am adopting this one. He spends most of his time in our yard anyway....much to Denvers dismay. He is such a cuddly cat and loves attention which is odd for a cat. Addison loves her "neow"...... The cat is nearly as big as she is but he lets her maul him and that is what I love to watch.....

After my choir rehearsal last night, I came home to find that one of Evan's front teeth had been pulled. Im not sure how Denver managed it other than Evan did promise me he would let dad pull it.....the other one is coming out tonight so Evan will have both front teeth missing. That should be fun! Ian's came out one at a time and one had grown back before the other came out so this will be a first with one of our kids missing both of them....I wonder if he will talk funny? I took a picture of him this morning with the one missing....I'll put another up when we pull the 2nd one.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Tooth Trauma....

The boys are close in age so we have teeth comin out all over the place. If you know me then you know how much I cannot stand teeth. I tried very unsuccessfully to pull Ian's first tooth.....yeah.....couldnt do it. It grosses me out so much. Right now Im sitting here listening to Denver beg, coax, and plead Evan into letting him pull his front tooth. It has been loose for some time and is turning grey, in fact both of them are ready to come out. Evan is hyperventilating. Denver pulled Ian's tooth already this evening and let me tell you about the drama! Wow. You would have thought Denver was trying to pull every single tooth out of Ian's head the way he was going on. When he finally got a hold of it and pulled it out, Ian didnt even believe him that he had done it. That is how much it didnt hurt. He accused Denver of using a piece of toilet paper as the tooth...... Unfortunately as I sit back down to finish this little post, Evan is sleeping peacefully with both front teeth still intact, albeit barely holding on. We could not convince him to part with them just yet.....maybe tomorrow. I'll post pictures of their toothless wonder whenever it actually happens :)

Thursday, October 2, 2008

A Little Update....

Not much happening around here these days besides work, school, more work, more school. So, I thought I would give some little updates on each person.

Denver: is currently in his 2nd class at University of Phoenix. He transferred there this fall from Westminster in order to finish school quicker and also because he only has to attend class one night a week. He is taking Business Law and it looks like it will be a bit more involved than past classes. He is still working at Boeing, however he works in a different area now. Rather than building parts, he is in the Quality department which I can only assume means checking parts that other people built. He is trying to move around and gain as much knowledge as possible to better prepare himself for management in the near future.....that is of course if he manages to keep his job through this strike. You may or may not know that Boeing in Seattle is currently on strike. I find the whole thing greedy and disgusting and I wish Boeing would just fire all of them. They dont care about how the strike affects the rest of the company just as long as they get more money. Sick. Especially considering the current state of our economy. Boeing already gives its employees so much more than most in this country. Ingrates....every one of them. Anyway, it looks like if the strike continues past another 2 weeks, they will be cutting everyones hours down to 3 days a week which is going to kill us financially. I pray that the strike will be resolved soon.......

Ian: Ian is in the 2nd grade and doing well. He likes his new teacher because "she never yells".....I suppose thats a good thing! He is currently reading one of the Harry Potter novels which is a 5th grade reading level. He is an awesome reader/speller...gets that from his mom :) He is still on chess club for the 3rd year in a row although I think it is more of a social thing. He doesnt seem to take it very seriously and surprisingly, this kid did not inherit his parents' competitive gene. Not that it is a bad thing.... He struggles the most with creative writing. It is hard for him to think beyond what is in black and white. He is very logical and this is a mental block when it comes to making up stories. We work on it but it is definitely something he doesnt enjoy. He will turn 8 this month and be getting baptized. He is excited for this I am proud to say. Of course I dont know many kids that arent. He is growing up so fast.


Evan: Well Evan is really coming out of his shell these days. He is very comfortable with school now. I am pleasantly surprised every day at just how happy he is with school. I feared the worst....but he is really settling in well. I am also continually amazed at how well he is doing in reading and spelling as well. Each child is different and Evan never showed any interest in learning to read like Ian did. In fact I was worried last year that he was going to struggle with this. However, since they started their reading homework 2 weeks ago, he has gone from a level 3 to a level 10 with no struggle whatsoever. I am so very proud of him. He has not brought a spelling test home yet that wasnt 100%.... The best part about Evan is that he has no fear of attempting to spell a word. He just writes it as it sounds to him and if its wrong, he just fixes it with a shrug. No biggie. Its awesome. He loves to make up stories and would probably make a great writer someday. For example when we went on our Sunday drive in the mountains, he said he actually "saw monkeys in the trees". He also found bear teeth stuck in a tree..mmmmm... 2 days ago I got a scary call from the school saying that Evan had hurt his wrist at recess and that they were very concerned about it being broken. I picked him up and it looked that way at first....we went to the hospital and were relieved to find out it was only sprained. I think he was a little disappointed not to get a cast like his big brother Alec. But, I am happy it wasnt broken. It also seems that he has a girlfriend already. This kid is a charmer, just like his father. He is going to be trouble one day..... Ian has never shown any interest in girls yet but Evan always has had an infatuation with them. He is a flirt too.... he took one of Addies stuffed animals and gave it to her (Maren). She gave it back the next day with a note saying that she loved it but her mom wont let her keep it because it was too nice of a gift. Today I emptied his backpack and found about 6 different notes that this girl wrote to him JUST TODAY.....I love you Evan....You are so nice Evan....I like you so much Evan..... Oh my. Im wondering what kind of actual work she did in school today!

Addie: Not a whole lot to report on little miss thing. She is in the middle of terrible 2's. Tantrums every few minutes about one thing or another. Spoiled rotten. Cute as a button. What else. I love her to death. She is completely potty trained in both "areas"....yay for small miracles. She is talking more and more coherently which is cute and annoying at the same time. What would I do without my sweet girl?


Me: Well, what about me. Im still running everyday at the gym. Ive managed to get over any inhibitions with running in front of people. My endurance is getting stronger and Im loving it believe it or not. Im still rehearsing with my choir which is so much fun. I will be very sad when it is over. I have signed up to take private lessons with my teacher though so at least I will have that to look forward to. Still working 3 nights a week at Wells Fargo. Still watching my cute nephew 3 days a week too. Thats really about it.

Hope all is well with you. Happy Fall!