Tulips

part of me wishes i had a south facing or even east or west facing house. so in the winter when it snows the sun will melt it away and i won't have to shovel it as often...but then part of me loves that i have a north facing house because my tulips come in later and stay longer. so for now i am happy with my house. until winter. these are my tulips. this is the first year i have ever planted tulips and seen them come in. i love them. there is only one thing that bothers me. the red ones in the back are shorter than the yellow ones in the front. how did this happen! there was no warning on the bag that said short or tall tulips that i can remember. but i love them just the same. the are so pretty. i can't wait till the fall...i am going to plant more in the front and a ton in the backyard. my mother in law gave me a daisy plant that i am planting tonight and look forward to watching the TALL daisies grow in the backyard. i want them to take over back there. i love flowers that are independant!

Cereal Boxes

all my kids love to look at the cereal boxes while they eat. especially the sugar cereal ones. the backs of the boxes have fun games and puzzles and all kinds of interesting things. this morning was no different. other than f wanted to look at 2 boxes instead of 1. as i sat next to him at the table this is all i could see...

he is too cute. he was counting all the bananas he could find. 4 is as far as he can count so he kept saying "free, fou, free, fou". it was so cute. i love their cute little habits.

Happy Anniversary!

yesterday was mine and b's anniversary. and to celebrate we went to see Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at the capital theatre. it was so funny...a little crued but funny. we laughed so hard. i am so glad we saw it. for dinner we were suppose to go to olive garden but by the time we got downtown we only had 45min. so we ended up at pier 49 pizza. it was good...i ordered a chef salad because one mention of olive garden i start to crave their salads. i love them. anyway...the salad was GINORMOUS! so many toppings: ham, pepperoni, green peppers, olives, mushrooms, red onions, mozerella cheese, tomatoes, crutons...oh so yummy. well we enjoyed talking to eachother without being interupted and not having to share our food. it was great. i love going out with b....and what i like is that we can act like adults and dress like adults. it was nice. 11 years down...eternity to go.

Never Let the Fear of Striking Out Keep You From Playing the Game

oh how i love to watch a play ball. he really exceeds in baseball. he had one double and pop fly and 2 singles. i was trying to give him some pointers during the game and he just looked at me like i didn't know what i was talking about. you know that look your son's give you...the one that says, 'mom, you don't know what you're talking about because this is a guys game and you are just a girl.' oh was i ticked. b just told me to leave him alone after awhile. so i did. and when a came in from the field he said, 'that's what his coach told him to do.' so truly in his mind i didn't know what i was talking about. but he did really well tonight. i was so proud of him. way to go, a!

ps. check out my craft center link...card swap creation and my photography link...a flower in my garden. too cute.

Batter Up

a's baseball season has officially started. one strike out, three singles, and one double. a started machine pitch this year and wasn't too sure about it at first but once he warms up he really smacks it.

this year we weren't so lucky as to having members of the ward or neighborhood on his team but he'll be okay. just keep your head in the game. he gets really excited when we praise him for doing such a good job so that's what we'll do. the more cheering the better for him. and he loves baseball. what a game.

BUSY BUSY

today we are watching the dustins boys while mandi and mckenzee go on a school field trip. i wasn't planning on doing anything but last night i promised m that we would go to target and find some sandals for church. so when the boys got here we loaded everyone in the car and off we went. well one stop became 3 or 4. we went to the bank to cash a check that's been on my fridge for a month, sorry che. then it was off to target for some sandals for the girls. we all tried on sunglasses and that was funny! then bought some cute sandals and we were outta there. since we were in centerville i thought i might as well go over to the to get me address on my license updated. i also added my maiden name so it matches all my other legal documents like my passport and ssc. so we did and the kids just ran around and cried here and there. i had to retake my photo and she asked if the photo would work. i took one look at it and said sure. it wasn't the best but i was not going to retake it with 4 kids wanting to leave already. the kids were hungry by this time and chaser was missing his mom. i told him we had one more stop to make and then we would get lunch at mcdonalds. he perked up and away we went. we made our last stop at the bountiful music store where m was fitted for her very first violin. it is the cutest thing i have ever seen. i love it. she is so excited to play the violin now. more than before.

m playing her 'twinkles'. MISSISSIPPI STOP STOP, HOP BUNNY HOP, and ELEVATOR OPERATOR. she is so stinkin cute!

then we hit mcdonalds and brought our lunch home to eat.

jacob slept the entire morning so when he woke up he was ready to eat and be changed. what a cutie. he has the most beautiful big blue eye's ever!

and he is such a easy baby. i love taking care of them. anyway...it is 1:25pm and i must say that this was a very productive day. and the kids were really good and helpful. i love these days.

Sleepers and Water

none of these have anything in common. yesterday while i was busy on the computer, there was silence. and all mother's know what that means. somewhere there is a child getting into no good! but this was not one of those times. surprizingly. this is what i found on my family room couch.

what a precious little boy. fast asleep.

he slept for an hour and a half. and it was only 10:15am. he must have been really tired or really bored. there were toys all over the floor so he must have played hard then concked (sp?) out. so cute.

i have gotten up to 5 1/2 bottles of water! i am so excited. i should be drinking 6 but i can't seem to get there. yesterday was the day and i was thrilled. today...not past one! sad. but i will keep trying. i have to drink lots before i hit the gym tonight. they say you should hydrate before working out not during. that's what i do. bad. but now i know.

Candy Apples

i love candy apples. it's gooey, chewy, sticky-ness make my mouth water at the sight! we made candy apples for dessert on saturday night. m said, 'this is a party'. i told b that for halloween we need to make these again. and drizzle chocolate over the caramel and then roll it in nuts! YUMMY! i can't wait. the kids really had fun with the caramel. a and k made braces with theirs and m didn't want to eat it cause it was too sticky. f took really little bites but i think it was way too sticky for his taste too.

thanks, dad for the treat!

COSTCO

i love going to costco. i develop all my photos there and michelle and i are on a first name basis. that tells you a lot about a person when you are on a first name basis with employees. love it. anyway...b and i went to costco with all the kids today. it was kind of fun. b and i don't go grocery shopping together because he doesn't stick to my list but i told him if he went he could LOOK at the flat panel screens. LOOK, DON'T TOUCH. let me tell you he was thrilled. not really. we didn't stick to the list but it was fun to go and shop with him. we ran into the smith's while we were there and thane was on an errand to get meatballs before valerie checked out. well he was looking for them until he ran into b and his searching ended. not because he found the meatballs but because he was chatting. well, we told him that they were so yummy and gave him ways to use them like making meatball subs! soo good! we haven't had them so i decided to get some. i ended up looking for them while the men chatted away and brought a bag back for thane. it was funny to see men chatting away like women. it's usually me who is stopped at the store chatting away like crazy but today it was just the opposite. we collected our things and were out of there. trading one of our children for one of the smith's children. now we have 3 girls and one boy. i love costco!

My Poor Tulips

i was so excited to have my tulips bloom this year! and then it snowed! what the crap! it's april and snowing. come on! i planted a ton and the ones in the very front were doing so well. but the ones behind the front lines weren't getting enough sun and i am afraid that they never will. during the summer my front yard is completely shaded...much to missy's dismay. but they look really nice half way bloomed...i am positive that they would have been just fine if it weren't for the snow. this fall i will just plant a zillion and one in the backyard. and by the crappy trees out front.

ps. check out my craft center link. i finished my curtains!

Dance Recital

this saturday was another dance recital in layton for my girls. it was so exciting. k got ready first. hair, make-up, and then the costume. she looked so...JAZZY! and then miss m. hair, make-up, and costume. but when we went to put on her white panty hose there was a big problem. i bought a small size for m at the dollar store, i think. when i took them out of the package they were... SMALL! newborn baby small. i panicked! it was already 11:35. we had to leave no later than 12:00 noon. so i packed all of m's costume and make-up in a bag and told b we had to leave NOW! we got everyone in the car and drove to layton hills mall, where they were performing. m and i ran to mervyn's and bought a pair of white panty hose. we then ran to the bathrooms to change her quickly then back to the recital site. as we ran past shoppers i could hear all kinds of comments like, oh my gosh isn't she the cutest dancer! and oh i want to see that little girl dance, she's so cute. loved it. so we got back in time to put her go-go boots on and her make-up. then the recital began. all the dancers looked amazing. our teachers really do a good job at picking out the costumes! all the moms said so.

m did so good. she danced to THINK PINK.

k was rockin to S.O.S.

i was so proud of my girls. they really did a great job. i love my little dancers.

XCEL OPENED 24/7

okay i have 6 1/2 weeks before our trip to aruba and this is where i will be spending most my time. at the gym.

we will be doing BODY PUMP and BODY COMBAT!

we have scheduled to go m-th, and sat. somedays we will go to classes and other nights we hit the cardio machines. i am so excited to have gb's that are as dedicated and excited to see the lbs. fall off. it's too bad they literally don't fall off...in chunks.

i hate working out by myself and jason c. hates that his wife is wasting $ on a membership she wasn't utilizing...so we came to a decision. nellie and i will work out together! and then lynette joined the gym! HURRAY! now we are fierce gb's.

we read the funniest sign 2 nights ago at the gym. i can't rememeber it word for word but we like to laugh at the gym. out loud. and the other night we were laughing and i mentioned that no one else in the entire gym was laughing...

the sign said...

please refrain from any loud laughter while working out.

it is distracting to those around you.

we laughed at that. and kept laughing because honestly we don't LIKE to workout but since we HAVE to

...we might as well enjoy ourselves while we're there.

Spring Photos

i love updating my kids pics every year.

so here they are.

i just loved how they turned out. they would have been better if i had ironed the sheet but i don't care. i couldn't believe how many shots m was letting me take of her. i think i got at least 25! my little flower!

i just love the ones with just girls or just boys. they are so precious.

f was so good to smile and say cheese but only if i gave him jelly beans first. thanks buddy! i am so happy with them and uploaded them and ordered them from costco before my computer shuts down again.

*if you know of any computer specialists who could take a look at my computer please send them my way.

The SHED!

well b's tuff shed came and he loves it. he has moved things in and is already planning to build shelves. when he walked inside he said he should've had a vent put in because it's gonna get really hot. but he is so excited to have it and to clear out the garage. as we were driving around on thursday running errands i was noticing all the sheds in people's backyards. this confirmed one thing to me...the houses here don't have storage space. very sad. i guess ulitmately that means that if you want storage space you have to live on the hill. in any event we have big plans for our shed and just love that it matches out house. perfect. now i can plant tulips around it in the fall! hurray.

SMALLVILLE

we finally finished seasons 1-4 last night. i came home from working out with danielle last night and b was watching the season finale of 4. i was a little confused. what season is this i asked? he said 4. i didn't see that one. i don't know how i missed it. holy cow. i walked in when b was 20 min. into it so when it was over i started it at the beginning. that one was REALLY good. so now we are ready for season 5! i am SO EXCITED! i can't wait to see what happens.

CRAFTS

okay so all my home projects and crafty things will be posted on another link. if you scroll down my side bar...under craft center, i think, i will post all my happenings in Let's Get Creative.