New Job.....

Well, I've finally found a new job. Although I have enjoyed not having to work outside of the house for the past month, it is financially necessary for me to do so and will be a welcome relief to our bank account. I start on Monday and I will be working 3 nights a week at Wells Fargo Bank as a Proof Operator. Basically processing the checks that people write. My hours are roughly 5pm to midnight and it looks like I will be working Mon, Wed, Fri. It is really perfect actually because I am able to have Thursdays off for Choir rehearsal (remember the choir I joined a few months ago) and I dont have to work Tuesday nights which allows Denver to go to school....he starts on Aug 26th at University of Phoenix. Another added bonus is that I will have weekends off and holidays off to spend with my family which I never enjoyed at the Post Office. It is true what they say.....whenever one door closes, another one opens... and I have a feeling this will be a great job for me!

Google Saves The Day.......Again.

Well, it must be a run of bad luck.....or maybe a 2 year old who doesnt like eating or drinking at the table, but I have another story of carpet stain trauma. Red and purple Kool Aid stains! Because we are renting this house and also because the landlord was already nervous about this "expensive" carpet, I am super paranoid about stains in the carpet. These KoolAid stains have sat a while too which made them even more impossible to get out of the carpet. So, I turned to Google again. I figured if I could find a way to get red nail polish out of the carpet, then I could find something about KoolAid too! And I did. It was such a cool trick, that I am sharing it with you all. I know a lot of my readers have small children and I know Im not the only one who gets stains in her carpet. So, here you go:

First make a solution of about a teaspoon of the regular blue Dawn dishsoap and 2 cups of warm/hot water. Next, wet a white cotton cloth with the dishsoap solution and then wring it out so that it isnt sopping wet. Lay it over the stain ( I also got the stain wet with the solution too before I laid the cloth on it). Now heat your clothes iron up on the lowest setting and then set it on top of the cloth and leave it there for about 15 minutes. You may have to repeat this a couple of times depending on how old the stain is but it really works! Dont rub or press on the iron. Just let it sit there and somehow the heat pulls out the red dye. It is so cool. Apparently this is how professional carpet cleaners get stains out of carpet. Now you dont have to pay anyone to do it for you!

Here are a couple of pictures: the first one shows the red stain after all other attempts to get it out failed. This was as good as I could get it out without the new trick. The next picture shows the cloth after I laid the iron on it.....see all the red it pulled out! I am happy to say that the stain is gone!

A Visit with Family.....

I had a really enjoyable time this weekend with some family that came into town from Arizona. My aunt Chrissy and Uncle Pete were here with their Grandson Jaron (my cousin Marcy's son). They came for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir / Osmond Family concert at the conference center. Chrissy had entered the "auction" for them a while back and got 4 tickets. They were gracious enough to invite me to come with them since they had a spare ticket! But first they came by our home for a visit. My boys were THRILLED to pieces to have Jaron in the house. They love having anyone come and visit but go nuts when it is another kid. Especially one as 'old' as Jaron. Ian remembers him from our time in Chandler but Evan was only 3 so his memory is sketchy. They were quite sad when Jaron left.....

I met up with them later that evening for the concert. I have to say that my expectations werent that high for the Osmond portion of the show.....only because they are a little before my time and I just didnt think I knew any of their songs. I was in for a big surprise. I ended up recognizing every song they sang and even better was how much I actually enjoyed their show. It was very touching to watch their personal family home videos during the show and well, I just really enjoyed it. The highlight for me though was still the Choir. Of course partly because my aunt Debbie and uncle Barry both sing in it. But also because the choir always manages to move me to tears. They sang a song called Shenandoah (sp?) that was just unbelievable. They ended it of course with Come Come Ye Saints.....it was beautiful. So, I had a great time and really enjoyed visiting with Pete and Chrissy. Its always nice to visit with family that you havent seen in a while and Im thankful that they took the time to come and see us on their vacation and of course for the show! Thanks guys...hope to see you again soon.

What Your Kids Really Think of You.......

I saw this on another blog last week and thought it was so funny! I just had to try it out on my own kids....... I= ian E = evan

....................................................................................................

What does mom always say to you? I- I love you ... E- (had a mental block on this one)

What makes mom happy? I - getting good grades ... E - (and this one)

What makes mom sad? I- Sometimes when you and dad "chat" you cry ... E - when I walk away from you when you are saying something to me.

How does mom make you laugh? I- when you pretend you are eating my ear ... E- tickle me

What was mom like when she was little? I- How do you expect us to know that? ... E- you were a little girl

How old is mommy? I - 37 ... E- 39

How tall is mommy? I - 11 feet tall ... E - 10 feet high

What does mom like to do? I- grocery shopping (what?) ... E - take me to swimming lessons

What doesn't mom like to do I - you dont like to hurt us ... E- being mad at us

What does mom do for a job? I- clean the house ... E- clean the whole house

What is moms favorite food? I- spaghetti ... E- salad and rolls

What do we like to do together? I- play boggle ... E-you take me to zacharys house

How do you know mom loves you? I- I just do (then he cried) ... E - you say 'I love you' to me

Dora, Dora, Dora.....

Addison is the proud new owner of a Dora the Explorer nightgown. She has had her eye on this for the past couple of weeks. Everytime we go to Walmart she whines for it. So tonight, we bought it for her.....She is a very happy little princess. Spoiled, but happy!

Making Amends.....

Wow, talk about a reality check. I went to the post office today to mail some things and ran into my 9th & 10th grade math teacher! She couldnt believe I recognized her but she has not aged! I swear she looked the exact same as I remember her....same haircut and everything. What a trip! And she is still teaching at Alta High School....that is dedication folks. Funny thing about it was that of all the teachers I have ever had during my school years, there were 2 that I have always wanted to apologize to since becoming an "adult"......she was one of them and today I got my chance. She was very sweet and thought she should apologize too because she probably wasnt that nice to me.......trust me, I deserved anything she gave me. I was a total brat! I feel so great being able to say that to her after 23 years!

Memory Tag.....

Ok, so I got this idea from my friend Alisha and Im really curious to see the comments on this so feel free to leave one.....dont be shy!

1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember, good or bad but be nice please! ;)

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments!

Swim Lessons.....

Today was day 2 of the boys' swim lessons. When I first told them they were going to take lessons this summer, Ian proudly announced that he didnt need swimming lessons since he already knew how to swim. I told him of course, that this isnt swimming in Grandpa's pool, but rather "professional swimming"....just in case he wanted to race or something. That seemed to appease him. Then yesterday we showed up for the lessons and Ian wanted to know just how the process went to assign him into a group. I explained that they were separating kids by their ages and then if they needed to be moved up or back because of skill level, then they would do so. Thats when Ian said...and I quote...."Well, I guess Im going to be moved up then".....to which I responded "oh yeah, why is that?" and Ian says with complete confidence in himself...."because Im sure Im better than my age group". Oh reaaalllly.......I think I need to start teaching my son the meaning of the word humility.

Evan on the other hand was just happy as a clam that he was going to have swimming lessons. He couldnt have cared less what group he got put in as long as he was getting lessons. Addison, Soren, and myself sat up in the balcony to watch as they dont want parents sitting near the kids during lessons. I snapped a couple of pics with my phone but couldnt get any of Evan because his group was at the far end of the pool. I particularly like the one of Ian sitting between the 2 other classmates. Someone forgot to tell Ian to "say no to crack" ...sorry, couldnt resist. You cant actually tell from the picture but I had to yell down at him to pull his pants up it was so bad! The other moms got a good laugh at it...

Addie starts her lessons in 2 weeks which should be interesting :)

Mmmmmmm.......

Yes, I know....this doesnt look like healthy eating at all. It's not. But, I really wanted to try making a pound cake. You can find the recipe here. I've started another blog to keep my favorite recipes organized and you are welcome to check it out.

So far all I seem to have on there is sweet stuff.....now you all know what my problem is! Ha! Anyway, this dessert was too yummy not to share.

Childrens Museum Fun.....

Yesterday the boys went to a birthday party for their neighbor friend Sophia. It was held at the Gateway Childrens Museum. This place is so cool. Ive been twice with each of the boys for school field trips but Addison has never been. So, I dropped the kids off for the party and then took Addie over to the fountains at Gateway and waited for Denver. He met us there and we had some lunch and then went back to the museum a little early to wait for the boys. Well, the lady at the booth let us walk right in without paying! What a great thing for Addison. She LOVED this place. I had to tear her away from each thing she was playing with just so she could see everything. If I hadnt, she would have stayed in the big "Play House" and never left.... I wish we could have stayed a little longer....better yet, I wish I had all that stuff in our backyard! Here are some pictures of her and the boys playing. Oh and the picture of her in her diaper with the Dora picture was taken to show how she basically slept with that purse and wont go anywhere without it. She puts it up on her shoulder just like mom.....what a girl!

Ode to Sharon.....

Our Rose of Sharon tree has finally bloomed! Last year we only got one flower.....a little TLC and now she has many!

The Results are In......

Ok. One week down......many more to go. My aunt came over this morning to check in on our weekly weight loss goals. I mentioned the first commitments that I made for the week here. So, how did I do? I would say on a scale of 1-10, I earned a 6. Not fabulous I know. But you can all blame my husband. I know thats what I am doing. I love him but he can sometimes sabotage my weight loss efforts when he isnt in the same zone. And after about 3 days he was not in "the zone". I know he doesnt do it on purpose because Im pretty sure he would love to have the skinnier version of me back.... but only if he is skinny too. Well, either way, I just have to work harder and ignore his subtle attempts. Ultimately it is I that makes the decision on what goes into my mouth, right? Right.

Ok so, I did pretty good the first 3 or 4 days....got in some exercise although I didnt do 3 days as I committed to do. Cut out sugar for the most part....still room to improve though. So, for this week, My committments are remaining the same with the addition of one more:

I am going to cut my Diet Coke consumption in half

Denver laughs because he knows just how hard this one is going to be for me. This is why I am not cutting it out 100%. I just dont think I could. But, I think if I can cut it in half then eventually I could give it up. We'll see. You have to understand that when I drink a Diet Coke, it starts first thing in the morning. I crack open a can take a drink and put it back in the fridge and sip on the same can all day. Occassionally I will drink a whole can with lunch or dinner, but usually its just the one can. So, it isnt as if I drink a lot of pop.....but the habit that I am into is having that drink or two all throughout the day (if you didnt know it was about pop I would sound like an alcoholic!)

So, all in all I lost 3 pounds, which probably is only a pound and a half considering I was wearing jeans last week and wasnt wearing them this morning......but still, a loss is a loss and I am thrilled with it. Aunt Deb lost 4 pounds! Great job! She has incredible will power, you have no idea. I can only hope to be as firm as she is in her weight loss goals......that is why I joined with her :)

Fun With Blackberry....

So, today I have been playing with my new Blackberry phone. So much to learn..... But, I did take a few pictures of some things that we did today, with the phone of course. Exciting stuff I tell ya. First is a picture of Ian after his allergy shot today. He wasnt thrilled about it but is being so brave and didnt even whince this time around. Took it like a trooper and then told the nurse it was really "becoming a pain in the neck....or should I say arm" The nurse found this quite funny.

The next picture we took at WalMart. This is a life sized Indian Jones made entirely out of legos. Seriously, this thing was so cool. Ian was mesmerized. Addie could care less as she was distracted by a Dora the Explorer purse and Evan, well he was with his new best buddy Zack. Zack's mom took them to see the movie Wall-E. To top Evans night off, he is having his first sleep over at Zacks house and I have a feeling we are going to hear about it for the next 2 weeks! He was very excited.

A Visit with Friends.....

Today I received a visit from two friends that I havent seen in a while. Liz & Julie! They were in my ward (church) when we lived in Chandler, Arizona. They still live there of course but were in town this week and found the time to stop by! It was so much fun seeing them again and it really made me miss living there. I have to say that although I love my ward here, it does not compare to the one in Chandler. I have never lived anywhere in my life and made friends as quickly as I did there..... Thanks girls, for the visit and the food. I hope it isnt too long before we get together again!

My New Favorite Toys.....

Thanks Nate....

I dont have this one yet....should be here Thursday. YAY!

My Commitments.....

I'm back on the wagon....I think that's how the saying goes. Still working on losing weight and eating healthier. Im going to make a new commitment each week to do something healthier....this weeks commitments are:

1. No junk food ....I'm cutting out the chips,doughnuts and chocolate :(
2. Excerise at least 3 times for 30 minutes... even if its just a walk.

My Aunt and I are going to meet each week to hold each other accountable. Yikes. But it is going to be great to have someone working toward the same thing! Ive decided to post my commitments here every week....that way you can all hold me accountable too! Hopefully I will only post progress and not failure. But, I have a feeling there will be some set backs. Thats OK. As long as I continue to work hard, I know I can do it!

Wish me luck.

Isnt She Lovely....

Here are some pictures of my cute nieces! These pictures were taken by their Aunt Tia from Kentucky and I thought they were GREAT and needed to be posted here. We miss you guys so much and hope you are enjoying your summer!

Nathan Addicus Ries....

So today is my brother Nates birthday. Happy Happy Birthday! Nathan is the middle child in my family and just turned 35! It's crazy how fast time flies. We were buddies when we were little....until Jeff got old enough to play with him and then I became THE GIRL! I have lots of good memories though climbing in the canal, catching horny toads, and all kinds of other 'boy stuff '.

I love living close to him and his family and of course babysitting Soren, my nephew.

Nathan is a huge music lover and a very talented artist. You should see some of the stuff he has drawn/painted. He should be doing it for a living!

Anyway....Love you Nate and hope your birthday was Fabulous!

Pay Day.....

Evan lost his 2nd tooth last night.....its interesting to note that Evan's teeth came in at 4 months old so naturally I assumed his would come out first. Even before his brother who is only 18 months older. But, no, they are taking their own time. In fact the first one he lost was so long ago that the adult tooth is practically all grown in. His two top teeth are just barely loose....it will be a while.

The tooth fairy paid him a visit last night complete with dollars and "fairy dust" wink wink...... Needless to say, he is feeling pretty wealthy at the moment and is ready to hit 'Shop -n- Go' later today for treats.

Amazing Discovery....

Today has been a bit of an up and down day. My son Ian has suddenly become a bit insolent... testing my patience at every turn. Totally disregarding me and "rules" that we have in place. He has always been my rule follower and I have had little trouble out of him since his birth nearly 8 years ago....I guess that is all changing now and Im not quite sure how to handle it. Last night I was trying to explain to him why I was upset and he says "Mom! I cant help it that I am a stubborn child!" and then tonights conversation with him turned out this little gem "Mom! I dont have any choices....children are powerless!" Where does he get this stuff? Anyway, in the midst of my distress over this child of mine, my youngest little rugrat decided she needed to paint her toes the way she saw mom doing this morning. Unfortunately she doesnt understand that deep red nail polish and light beige carpet DO NOT mix! AHHHHHHH! I cannot tell you the level of nausea I felt when I saw the large, deck of card sized puddle of polish in the middle of the floor. Aside from wanting to scream, throw up, cuss, and bawl my head off.....I had to deal with the fact that she also had it all over herself. She didnt just paint her cute little toes, she painted her entire foot...both of them. UGH! All I can think of is the thousands of dollars it is going to cost me to replace the carpet because really...nail polish doesnt come out of carpet. Just ask my mom who scrubbed dilligently for hours trying to get out the red polish I spilled on her carpet last year....oops.

Well, after my futile attempt at getting it out with nail polish remover, I went to google and searched for a solution. The one thing that came up over and over again was....duh-duh duh-duuuuhhhhh...... WINDEX. Nothing special, just plain ole windex. Now, there were some different combinations used such as windex and shaving cream. Or windex, shaving cream, and hairspray....even wd40 came up in the mix. I was willing to try them all but started out with just the shaving cream and the windex. I writing here to tell you all that it worked! There is no more polish in my carpet! Now, it did take a little elbow grease....I worked it in really well with my fingers and used a tootbrush...let it sit and then worked it some more. All in all it took about an hour and I was left with a small area that was barely pinkish. Hardly noticeable at first glance. But, it still bothered me so a few hours later I took the windex by itself to it one more time and it faded it even more....One more time tomorrow and I think it will be completely gone. Not that you can really even see it now, I just know its there. So, I thought I would share my amazing discovery with you all just in case you ever spill red nail polish, or any other color for that matter, on your carpet. Now, can any of you offer me a simple solution for disobedient children.....one that doesnt involve bodily harm :)

Gateway Fun....

While working at the Post Office, I became friends with Jennilyn. She is a fellow Twilight fan and mom to 2 cute little kids. I was a bit saddened when I lost my job realizing that I wouldnt get to chat with her on my breaks anymore. But, we have kept in touch and today I met her and her kids downtown at the Gateway where we let them all run wild in the fountains. Addison wasnt too thrilled at the prospect of getting shot in the face with water so despite her love for anything involving a swimsuit, she kept a safe distance from the water. Ian and Evan both fell victim to the random water spouts and as Evan put it ....."actually got my eyeball shot out of my head, but it's ok mom cause I just put it back in...." Yikes.

The Secret to Happiness....or Nintendos.

Ok, Im sure many of you have heard of 'The Secret'....if not from Oprah, then surely from the book, dvd, or various other talk shows that have spoken about it. About 9 months ago a good friend of mine gave me the book as a gift. Now, Im a spiritual person, but...sometimes I think people can go overboard and I was skeptical about this book because it sounded kinda hokey. However, after reading it, I was completely converted to its way of thinking. I worked hard for a little while on it and truly felt a difference in my life. Even my dad noticed a difference. Did I win the PowerBall, wake up to a new Mercedes, or receive mysterious checks in the mail? No. What I did was feel better....happier....more positive. For that, I loved the book. Now fast forward 9 months...Im still trying to "find the positive" side of everything, maybe not as diligently as I had been but I feel like it changed me enough that I do make a serious effort not to be negative. Well, Ive had the dvd for a while now. My brother and his wife gave it to us for Christmas. I wanted Denver to watch it of course and we finally had a chance...albeit 6 months after we received it...to watch it together last night. We will be starting our vision boards this weekend :)

The point of this rambling is that I thought it would be great to involve the boys. They are old enough to understand the basic concept and as Oprah said, kids can make vision boards too no matter how shallow their desires are at this point. So I told them we were going to watch a movie on the "secret to happiness". They were excited. The movie starts out much like National Treasure or The Da Vinci Code... mysterious music, knights in armour burying scrolls....they were intrigued. After about 20 minutes, it became obvious that it wasnt the movie they were hoping for and they started complaining. Ian says, "so what do they mean? If I think about something enough the universe will make it appear?" I then tried to explain the concept that I wanted them to get out of it about focusing on goals and of course I explained the vision board. Ian smiled.... right before bed, he was frantically looking for a crayon with which he hurriedly drew and colored a Nintendo DS and stuck it on his dresser where he could see it. I guess he got the point.....:)

Post 4th Recovery....

You know the holiday was a success when then next morning you crawl out of bed at 9:45 and the rest of the house is still sleeping! It is now 10:15 and Addison and myself are the only ones awake.....wow. We did have a great 4th of July though. We started off the day with pancakes and various other delicious breakfast foods at our ward "Pancake Breakfast". Apparently this is a long standing tradition with the ward (church) that was just combined with ours so the powers that be decided....'why ruin a good thing...' it was really nice and the pancakes were cooked perfectly, something that I appreciate probably too much. We skipped lunch and had an early dinner instead. Denver grilled BBQ chicken on our mini weber (read: charcoal lil' smokey) and I made a potato salad. I also attempted a flag cake which was not anywhere near as beautiful as the ones I have seen in magazines. But it was tasty nonetheless and that is the main requirement of my cakes. We also grilled hot dogs and had chips and baked beans. Traditional July 4th meal for sure.

We actually took a nap after dinner and then headed to Sugarhouse park for the firework show. We end up at this firework show every year but it never disappoints..... Oh, and obviously I did not win the Miley Cyrus Stadium of Fire tickets...boo hoo. Ian cried for a minute but then realized it was nearly impossible for me to win. Doesn't he know that I am the unluckiest person alive when it comes to prize drawings? The kids enjoyed the firework show and Addison didnt cry at all. We werent sure how she would react considering that my boys cried and covered their ears up to age 4! Shes a tough cookie. While we were sitting there waiting for the sun to go down, some people came by with clipboards and forms to register you to vote. This was great since we are not registered here. What a perfect day to register to vote! Not that I have a clue who I am going to vote for......

On another note, my Grandma just called to tell me that my cousin Lauren got her mission call to Seoul South Korea! Im so excited for her! They are going to LOVE her long blonde hair. The kids will want to touch it.....it is a strange experience. Oh, sounds like the rest of the house is stirring....better go get breakfast going!

Happy 4th of July.....

God bless the U.S.A!

Beautiful Day....

I LOVE days like this. Its definitely hot outside but there is a cool breeze blowing and the wildflowers are blooming....we went outside to sit in the grass and I thought I should take a picture of all the kids for Gma and Gpa. Here are a few of my faves