rachael & john

Where did the time go?

2011-10-16T18:18:00.002-06:00

John helped me set this up from Picasa, pretty awesome! Glad it's easy to blog again!

Pizza! (This is Broxon, he's 16 months now....)

Buddies (Xanden is 6 now...)

Investigating this strange dessert...

Paisli got birthday cupcakes! (she's 4!)

uggh, too much of a good thing!

Bathtime

Paisli and her new American Girl Doll she named "Little Red Riding Hood", we call her "Little Red"

Best friends!

She was so excited!

Here he comes...

there he goes!

Sisters. (Berkli is 8...)

Berkli, Paisli, Samantha, and Little Red

Face painting at Moving Planet Portland event.

Berkli is 8!!!

2011-03-05T22:30:00.003-07:00

Here is her cake. It was my first time with fondant. Which was SO fun! I made a homemade marshmallow fondant, with almond, butter and vanilla flavoring. The cake was three layers, one chocolate, one vanilla and one strawberry.

Love this amazing girl!

The girls played hopscotch, Berkli and Camry made the board and the arrows showing everyone where to line up.
Berkli with her cousin Camry. These are Hello Kitty Pizzas, Oval pizza shape with small points for the ears, olives for the eyes, pineapple tidbit for a nose, slices of olives are the wiskers and a pepperoni bow. The girls got to take turns making their own.
We made mini magnet boards by mod-podging scrapbook paper onto sheet metal and painting a 5x7 frame, and glueing it in place. We also made magnets with clear marbles and scrapbook paper. We tied ribbon on the top for hanging. They all turned out SO cute, and somehow we don't have a picture :(
We had an indoor pinata, where each girl takes a turn pulling a string, one lucky string pulls the pinata open. We made it all the way to number 11 :) (unfortunately we had 12 girls, but Alyssa was a trooper!) (This is also the only shot of my amazing friend Jani, she came and helped me. Without her I don't know what I would have done!!)

Berkli's friends spoiled her. It was such a fun day!
Tips I learned:

The cake is everything.
Make sure it is even and smoothly cut, make sure your frosting is smooth. Make sure you take the time to freeze the cake so it is easy to cut.

Also, make sure you give yourself plenty of time to freeze the cake before cutting so it is easier. (I would also recommend leaving it in the freezer until right before you cut it -I got in the shower and by the time I was done, it was soft around the edges and hard to cut)

If you are doing multiple layers, I would stack them all (with frosting in between the layers, then trim the sides off all the layers at once. THEN ice the sides all at the same time with a crumb coat. Make sure your crumb coat is smooth and even.

Before adding the fondant, make sure all your surfaces are clean and free of crumbs. This is VERY IMPORTANT!

Also, I like to make the cakes a three days ahead and then freeze them wrapped in plastic and aluminum foil. Two days prior I like to stack my layers, do the trimming and crumb coat of frosting and put it back in the freezer. Then the day before, I do all the frosting and detail work and put it in the fridge overnight. The only pain is that the cake was SO big, I had to put a bunch of my groceries in the freezer to fit it. Once the cake is done, it takes SO much stress off.

Some people suggest not adding the fondant accents until the day of, I went ahead and did it, but some small accents did come off (I also did not know you were supposed to glue them on with frosting....) I guess I watched one too many episodes of cake boss!

Broxon John Smith

2010-08-17T08:36:00.007-06:00

June 6, 2010

9:25 pm
7 lbs. 4 oz
20 inches long

Finally--The Story- it's VERY long, and probably too much info, but aren't they always?

This time, I decided to deliver at The Baby Place, which is a birthing center run by midwives. It was the best decision and we loved it. We wish all our kids could have been born there, it was perfect. I also bought a contraction timer for my iPod that made it so I could email the data to myself, so I have a record of this crazy labor and can actually document my contractions, kind of a fun thing.

I started having strong contractions Friday at 3am. They were about 10-15 minutes apart and varied in intensity. They were getting a lot stronger and "bitier" than the ones I had been having previously so I knew something was happening. They didn't stop all day, and were getting more intense, not neccessarily closer together, but stronger. We had John's family take the kids Saturday afternoon around 4. We figured after 12 hours of steady contractions 10-15 minutes apart, something was bound to happen in the middle of the night.

To get my contractions going in the past, I've always had to walk and when I do they instantly get regular (3-5 minutes apart). I wasn't willing to do that with the kids around, so after they were gone we went to Ann Morrison Park. We walked around trying to see if we could kick my labor into full force. After 1 1/2 hours of walking, my contractions had still been irregular, but stronger longer and closer together. But I would have them every 3-7 minutes and they would last for 1-2 minutes, I just couldn't get them regular. They were really painful and I had a hard time walking through them so I was thinking that was a good sign.

We went home and I was still having strong contractions so we decided to go to bed and rest because it was bound to be a long night. Around 1 am they were 3 minutes apart for an hour, so we decided to call my midwife and go in. When we got there my contractions had slowed down. she said I was a 3, and that my cervix was still posterier but that she wanted us to stay so she could keep an eye on us. My contractions slowed down to 10 minutes apart for the rest of the night. At 7 am, she checked me again, and nothing had changed. I was pretty upset. 27 hours of nonstop contractions, and I wasn't progressing very quickly. (on a side note, they never checked me before I was in labor and in the past, I never dilate past a 2 unless I'm in labor for about 8 hours). The frustrating part at this point was that my contractions were very strong and intense, and far apart. They were also not regular, They would be anywhere from 7-15 minutes apart. But they would last between 30 seconds and 2 minutes. So frustrating. I'd had braxton hicks in the past, but never for days without a break, and they were never this intense.

We went home discouraged, but determined to progress the labor. We were pretty exhausted so we went home and tried to walk around the neighborhood, it didn't matter what I did, I could not get the contractions regular. They also wouldn't get closer than about 8 minutes apart. They weren't showing any signs of patterns of anything, I'd have a super intense one, followed by a soft one. I'd have one 8 minutes, then 12 minutes, then 9 minutes than 15 minutes, then 8 minutes, then 9, then 10, then 15, then 7.... Just REALLY random. But overall, the intensity was strong, I couldn't do anything other than focus through them. Based on my previous labors, if it wasn't for the timing issue, it felt like I was in labor. I always have at least 12 hours of regular 3 minute apart steady and intense contractions. Icouldn't get these contractions regular or 3-5 minutes apart for the life of me. It wasn't like I was having braxton hicks that kind of hurt, I hadn't been able to do anything through my contractions all day. Every time one would come on I would stop what I was doing and relax. We were trying to keep my mind off of it by beating Super Mario Bros on the wii ;)

Around 5 o'clock on Sunday night I was SO discouraged. I was in tears at this point. I would have one so strong that I could barely relax followed by one that was still intense, but not very had to relax through. The fact that they averaged about 8 minutes apart wasn't helping either. I felt like I was in labor and progressing, but all the signs were not pointing in that direction. The rule is that they have to be stronger, longer, closer together. When they get 3-5 minutes apart for 1 hour, go in. So we were playing the waiting game.

I called my mother in law to ask her to call her friend who is training to be a midwife and ask her if there was any way I could be in labor. The call back was not what I wanted to hear, they said there was no way I was in labor and that they had to be regular. So, I broke down and lost it. I was done, I couldn't do 12 more hours of this, let alone 12 hours of 3 minute apart contractions. I decided this was the worst labor ever, I was exhausted and I was throwing in the towel.

I know about the emotional map of going natural, and that when you are in active labor, you can really tell because you don't talk and you don't get distracted. The problem is that I was perfectly fine in between contractions, it was weird because they were 8-12 minutes apart, so I had plenty of time to talk with John in between and tell him how discouraged I was. He's seen me have all our other kids, and never once have I spoken to him while in labor. I took a bath to try to slow things down, but my contractions only felt more intense, but still totally irregular, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 12 minutes, 8 minutes, 5 minutes, 9 minutes... really random. No patterns, nothing. so I got out. They just kept coming really intense, to the point that I could barely stand through them, but still completely random and far apart. I was not okay. They felt like transition contractions, but none of the other signs made sense or added up.

Around 7:30, John decided we should walk around the house. He was trying to get me confident. Every time I'd have a contraction I'd look at him, hoping they were getting closer or regular or something. But they weren't. We got them between 6- 7 1/2 minutes apart for 45 minutes. By this point I was so exhausted, I had hardly eaten anything in the last two days and my energy was low. Not to mention, they were so intense. So I sat down through my next contraction hoping that my walking had kicked my contractions into being regular. Instantly they went irregular, my next contraction was 9 minutes. I was so discouraged! If I wasn't walking, they weren't regular, so I wasn't in labor. Not to mention, I was exhausted and they were getting so intense couldn't relax through them. John gave me a blessing and we said a prayer asking for a quick delivery. All I could do was cry. He called my midwife and told her they had been 6 minutes apart for an hour (exaggeration, seeing as how it was between 6-7 1/2 minutes, and they had stopped being regular when I stopped walking after 45 minutes). She told us to come in in an hour (This was at 8:30.) I was devastated.

I told John, there is no way I can last an hour. He tried to get me to get up and walk again, and I did for a few contractions, but I could barely breathe through them, they felt like transition contractions and I couldn't relax or breathe, just wait until it was over. By this time, they had lost all consistency, they would be 5 minutes, 9 minutes, 7 minutes, 5 minutes, 2 minutes, 6 minutes...just REALLY random again, and SO discouraging. Around 8:50 I just laid down on the couch, defeated, exhausted and discouraged. They were SO intense, how was I going to do 12 more hours of this?? John kept asking if I wanted to get checked all day, but I just knew that if I had barely progressed, or not at all, that I would be SO discouraged, it was better not to know. It really takes me forever to get to a 5, so I was concerned that if I got checked I would only be a 4 (or STILL a 3) and just give up completely. Not to mention, they still were so irregular, I just didn't want to get more discouraged.

Around 9 o'clock, I told John I kind of felt like I needed to push, just a little pressure. So he immediately grabbed our bags and put me in the car. We had removed a seat in the back and set the exercise ball in the middle so I could kneel on the floor and drape over the ball. Just before in the car, I had another contraction that really had a lot of pressure. So John and I took off and before we knew it I was having another contraction and trying SO hard not to push. We live 20 minutes from The Baby Place, so John was freaking out. He called my midwife and she said she would meet us right there and told him to tell me not to push no matter what. The good news was that my contractions weren't super close together so I was thinking I would only have two in the car. Wow, what a time to get closer together, well I had one while turning onto the freeway on ramp, another on the freeway by eagle road, and the last one on franklin while turning right before The Baby Place. I was trying so hard to relax and not push, I just crossed my legs and held on. That was the longest ride of my life. John had called his mom as we were getting on the freeway and told her to meet us there. She lives about 15 minutes from The Baby Place.

We got there in record time, and they met us outside, walked me into the room, sat me down, and checked me, and she said " you're an 8, hold on, now you're a 10, let's get that baby out." (literally in one sentence, that fast). So I started pushing and within a few minutes, I had a baby. I had him exactly 17 minutes from the time we had left our house. Now I should remind you that I didn't know know what I was having. I really thought it was a girl, right after he came out, he was upside down and I saw a little what looked like boy parts in between his legs,. I immediately said "That's a boy." John was like, "What, I totally forgot to look." So then he called his mom on the phone and said "It's a boy!" She was like "What? I'm not even there yet?" We then called my mom who said "I didn't even know you were in labor!" (apparently, neither did we.) I was pretty unprepared for a boy and totally shocked!

At the time, my labor seemed so discouraging and horrible, my last ten contractions, were actually this: 9, 5, 4, 1, 5, 2, 7, 7, 5, 2. (this includes the last ones in the car). In retrospect, it was actually probably one of the best. Having so much time in between contractions was overall a lot easier. It's like I had my typical 12 hours of 3 minute apart contractions spread out over 42 hours. The car part was insane, and as hard as it was for me, John was thinking about how we were going to have to deliver on the side of the road, and all these crazy thoughts were running through his head.

The Baby Place was AMAZING and worth it! It was such a calm birth, and recovery. They really let us get to know Broxon without pulling him away to do science experiments. It was so peaceful and having a king size bed was wonderful for recovery. It's hard to describe, just that rather than treating Broxon and me like sick people, they did check us to make sure we were okay, but they treated us like what we went through was normal and healthy and natural. Broxon didn't even cry until they poked his toe the next morning for the PKU. It was so great and peaceful, and we got to leave in the morning and relax at home. My in laws kept the kids one more night so we could recover at home with just us. It was perfect, and so great to be able to do what we wanted. He's here, and he is so great!

1 week old

Help!

2010-07-07T10:59:00.002-06:00

Okay, now that I have your attention, (I should announce that this post doesn't include any pictures of Broxon or labor stories... it is coming I PROMISE..wait, don't stop reading, keep reading, please, I really do need your help!)

I am in charge of the Smith Family Camping Reunion this year, we (switch off camping and coast trips) and I wanted to get some ideas of things we could do.

There are about 12 adults ages 18-32, plus John's Parents 10 kids ages 8, 7, 6 (x 2), 5, 4, 3 (x 4), & 3 babies ages 9 months, 4 months & 2 months.

So what are some fun games you have done at various reunions, and more details than less would be great! THANK YOU!!!

Rachael

p.s. the more of you that post, the more motivated I'll be to blog about life again...who's reading and what do you have to share, I like long comments :)

Wevehadababyitsaboy!

2010-06-14T21:53:00.001-06:00

Broxon John Smith
June 6th, 2010, 9:25pm
7 lbs. 4 oz. 20 inches

April Overview

2010-04-30T23:59:00.000-06:00

I was super productive this month.. I was able to accomplish the following off of my list:

Easter Dresses out of Dress Shirt

All the girls on the Smith side got together to make Easter dresses for our girls.
(I made Berkli a matching green one, but she wouldn't wear it.)

Easter Dessert

Not nearly as pretty as the one I copied, and the chick in the middle looked more like a yolk, but the kids loved it. I wanted to spend time decorating it with frosting instead of sprinkles, but not only was it conference weekend, but that would be the day my husband and I fought over the kitchen so he could make "Beef Bourginon". We did watch Julie and Julia, how did you know?

Tile Kitchen floor doorway.
This is probably the project I am most proud of. Because no one wanted to help, so I did it on my own. This first picture just shows me chiseling away at the leftover glue from the tile before. For some reason, this chunk of floor in our kitchen never got tiled. I really don't know why, other then after the guys laid the hardibacker they left this spot bare and we were in such a hurry to tile that for some reason we tiled around it. Which left a 2" spot of concrete and a 4" old wood step exposed.

In order to lay the tile, I then had to chisel the trim around the door.

Next, Xanden helped me cut the hardibacker to fit ( I like to think we did a great job). We started out cutting by hand but then I decided to quit being a whimp and just get out the table saw. That made it easier and then we cut the step notches by hand. Then I laid the hardibacker and let it sit overnight.

And then I had to get a few tiles cut at Lowes, but luckily it was exactly 6" wide, so I only had to get the four small one that go under the trim cut.
Today I added the wood trim in the front and stained it so that I can add the grout next. All in all, I am proud of this tile project because I did it on my own. Now I just need to grout it :)

Finish FHE Board

This was one of those last minute projects to cross something off my list. It actually took about 20 minutes to do it, I had painted the tin and added the vinyl and rub on letters last Spring, and just barely made the pictures so we can use it.

On a side note, the reason I was super busy this month and wasn't able to tackle my list very much. for two reasons:

1. I am seven months pregnant, now eight months pregnant.

2. I was working almost constantly making final preparations for the Charter School to be presented to the Idaho State Charter School Commission on the 29th.
I guess all that hard work payed off because we were approved! The first time through!

I just got an email from the State of Idaho Charter School Choice Coordinator saying that our presentation was outstanding and we raised the bar for future schools who will be presenting.
So I guess all the hours and time spent payed off. The Village Charter School will be coming to Boise Idaho in Fall of 2011. Crazy! Ooh, and I forgot to mention that in February, I wrote my first grant! And, our school was awarded $50,000! The entire thing woo hoo!

So I guess what I'm saying is all in all, I feel like I accomplished a lot this month.

April Madness- Insane-ness

2010-04-02T10:30:00.007-06:00

I just realized why I am so overwhelmed. I decided to do some fun projects in April to make up for my lack of fun projects in March, and when I mapped out my schedule, here's what I have going on this month:

3^rd & 4^th General Conference
5^th- 8^th- Charter- major deadline, finish up loose ends, finalize documents
9^th-11^th- Idaho Falls, visit the Hurds & Baby William’s Baby Blessing
9^th Xanden’s Birthday
13^th –16^th John in Vegas :(
16^th John’s Birthday
16^th-25^th My Mom here
20^th Anniversary
22^nd- 25^th Portland & Seattle to see my brothers
26^th-29^th Prep for Charter Commission Meeting
30^th- Meet with State Charter Commission to seek approval.

12th, 17th-19th, 21st, 31st - Normal Days

All in all, I realized that these are my only "normal days" this month. And during all but two of those days, my mom will be here. So she might not like it if I ignore her the whole time :) Maybe I can come up with something fun for us to do while she's here.

Here is what I have planned for April Insane-ness. I am not going to be as organized as my sister in law, and I will simply decide what I want to do when I have time and do something. My biggest hurdle right now seems to be that I am so busy that when I actually have time, I am so tired I don't have the energy to think of anything fun to do.

Here's my list in no particular order.

Easter Dresses out of Dress Shirt
Finish Dresses
Easter Dessert
Food Storage Planning
Fort- Table Cover Base Cover
Fort- Accents- Doors, Window, Trim, Designs make it more like this, and for a standard card table.
Tile Kitchen floor doorway.
Hang Bedroom Door
Sand & Paint Doorway Trim
Diaper Clutch
Diaper Bag
Nursing Cover
Touch up Kids’ Paint
Touch up Toasted Almond Paint
Clear Coat Kitchen Cupboards
Design Berkli’s Quilt
Felt Mr. Potato Head
Design Xanden’s Quilt
Sweater Pillow
Pillow w/ Ties
Pillow Shams
Quiet Book
Finish FHE Board
Picaboo Book- first time customer get a book free! (my coupon says I have until Dec, 31, 2010 to claim my book.)
72 hour kit slings for 2- liter water bottles
Toy Kitchen Food- Noodles, Oats, Rice, Boxed Goods, Canned Goods
Toy Kitchen-Fabric Food, ongoing
Repair Kid's Kitchen
Repaint Kids' Kitchen
Farmhouse Bed
Hang Bedroom Curtains

I thought I should add a disclaimer that I DO NOT intend to accomplish all of these things this month, or even half. (unfortunately) I hope that by making a list when I do have time, I will have somewhere to go to be inspired and not blog surf for ideas all the time. I also do realize that I am 30 weeks pregnant on top of my busy schedule and so accomplishing 5 things off of this list will be a miracle. I just want to have something fun to look forward to and keep me motivated without wasting all my time trying to figure out what to do. Which is what I usually do. That, and sleep.

March Madness-Recap

2010-04-02T09:41:00.005-06:00

My totally cute, totally crafty sister in law Dena decided to do a March Madness month and do a different project everyday for the month of March. I signed on, not realizing how insane my March was going to be :) I also never even had time to make a list of what I wanted to do. I've been SO busy the last year that I haven't been able to remember what I enjoy doing, let alone have a list of projects I want to do. I'm trying to find balance in my life and make a list of things I enjoy doing.

All in all, I was still inspired and got things done that I never would have otherwise with the madness and blog posts in mind I just didn't have the time to document it! Thanks Deen for the inspiration!

March Madness Re-cap: (Completely out of order)

Write Charter School Grant- this was an insane project that fell on my lap at the last minute, I had to edit and write a 50 page grant in less than a week, pretty sure it got turned in at 4:58 the day it was due.
Touch up doorways- This was actually one of those feel good projects. When we moved in, we had the flat ugly wood doors, and on Craigslist I found some really cute doors with hardware, the only problem- all the doors were hung the wrong way, so we had to router out the doors and our doorways to make the hinges line up to our doorways. It's one of those things you don't notice until the door is open, so I always forget. I still haven't sanded or painted them, but they are all puttied up!
Clean Oven & Cupboards- This was an impromptu kitchen cleaning that ended up taking all day. I've been so busy/sick/tired that fingerprints have been building up all over my house, so I took the day to clean them off my cupboards.
Organize Craft Room- We rearranged our house in February. I don't think I ever posted about that... So I had two craft cupboards that were stuffed full of stuff, plus boxes on the floor. Eventually I got so sick of walking past the boxes I decided to put it all away. It took 2 days, but was totally worth it.
Clean out Shed- 2 days. This credit goes to John, we started, I got sick, he finished. The End. Great Job honey!
Clean out craft shed- This was all me. I have a lot of craft supplies, I just need to figure out what to do with them all! This shed also contains our holiday decorations and food storage too.
Take stuff to DI- Again, John, thank you so much! Two van fulls later, and all that unnecessary stuff was gone, just like that!
Move clothes to Paisli's new dresser & Get rid of Old Dresser.
Hang new blinds- My front window has had a tiny crack ever since we moved in. One day,Berkli tapped on it and it shattered. Thanks to homeowners insurance we were able to replace the window, another cracked window and refurnish our house for the remodel. I'm not used to everyone being able to see into my house all the time, so on a whim I decided to get the 2" faux wood blinds for my front window. It was fun, but took all day to hang.
Organize Charter Stuff- I had SO many documents that had been printed, edited, changed, handouts, notes, etc. So I finally took the time to go through it all to make sure I had what I needed. Phew! Now to just find a home for all this stuff...
Make Cards- Two or three years ago I planned a card class for my mom and her friends and always intended on doing it in Boise, but never got around to it. I've had these kits all pre-cut ready to go for years. My mom called me to ask if I would make her some cards and two days, 150 cards later, I was done. I want to say it was enjoyable, but overall getting it done was the real satisfaction. I don't want to touch a stamp or anything like that for a long time.
Update 72 hour kits- With all the earthquakes everywhere, I decided I needed to make sure our 72 hour kits were up to date. So we pulled out the clothes, and everyone just laughed, the shirts and pants went to berkli and xanden's mid back. As far as the food goes, I found 3 packets of instant oatmeal and 6 small bags of expired jerky. It was pathetic. So John helped them the kids get their clothes together while I updated our first aid kits and made food plans.
Shop for 72 hour kits- I had to shop for all the newly needed supplies, and then resort them into ziploc bags for each kit.
Meals for 72 hour kits- This was better, we actually have food, and a way to cook it. All we need now is water. Twelve 2-liter bottles worth to be exact. Plus the slings to carry them. I'll have to do that next month...
Sea Salt Chocolate Truffles- I made these with Dena, they were amazing! See pics here.
Over Easy Egg- I've fallen in love with all the felt food out there, I decided I want to make some more durable food out of cotton fabrics. It will be more work, but I think it will last longer and be washable. My first task was an over easy egg. Pretty fun, I just designed an egg shape and started sewing, the yolk ended up being too large, but overall I am excited to finish this project!
Paisli Twirly Skirt- Fail! I tried to make a skirt out of a T-shirt that matched a cute skirt from Gymboree. It didn't work at all, I'm going to have to try again. At least the T shirt was only $2. In case you haven't noticed, I tend to be the "sew"-er that doesn't use patterns and just starts cutting and hoping it will work. It's the wanna be designer in me trying to get out. Sometimes I get reminded of why I am not a designer.
Apron- I love designing aprons. I have all these great ideas in my head. Sometimes they work out well, other times they don't. This one is starting to look pretty cute, although I'm realizing that I've been assembling it out of order. If it turns out as cute as I think I will be remaking it correctly and possibly be making a tutorial. That's the IF.
Lots of Charter Meetings- This is a given and the main reason why I am always running around.
Work on Banners- Remember my cute Happy Birthday Banner, well I've been updating it and wanting to start an etsy shop for all my creations. Maybe someday. In the meantime, I finished a mostly finished project and then cut the stuffing to prep for assembly.

Writing this list was pretty therapeutic, I know my posts have been boring without very many pictures, I kept wanting to take pictures and post as I went along, but sometimes you just gotta get things done and not worry about blogging about it.

Glad I don't know

2010-03-22T09:25:00.005-06:00

Sometimes I wonder...

If finding out what I was having would make my life easier.

Let's face it, if I knew, I would...

only have to sort through names for 1 gender.
give all my baby clothes for the other gender away.
be able to decide who was sharing rooms with who for the unforeseeable future.
not have to listen to my kids speculate.

But then again if I knew...

my kids would probably be a little disappointed either way.
it was my last boy/girl, and that would be sad.
I would never have another baby boy/girl, and that would be hard.
it would make things more final.

Even though in some ways things would be easier, in others they would be harder. This way I don't have to deal with all the emotions until I have the cute little baby in front of me.

Plus, talk about a surprise, if it's a girl we'll think "we knew it", if it's a boy we'll be like "are you sure?"

John and I pretty much think it's a girl, but I keep referring to it as a "he" or "him". Basically if it's a boy, we'll be shocked, my kids all want a boy, but I know they'll be happy with a girl.

Either way, I'm still standing my ground.

Everything Looks Good

2010-02-23T14:33:00.002-07:00

Did I mention, we aren't finding out what we're having?

Growing Up

2010-02-23T13:15:00.008-07:00

It's been too long since we've taken a family picture... way too long! So, on Sunday, we took a last minute picture as we were heading out the door for church. While I was getting ready, John set up the kids and took their pictures in our kitchen. I didn't think you could take a good indoor picture, but he's got skeels (as Xanden would say.) Usually the kids freeze or freak out, but this time we got so many good pictures it was hard to choose. It was fun to see some genuine smiles on their faces. (And with the help of Photoshop, once again I was able to get a decent family picture. I love photoshop!)

Berkli turns 7 this week!

Xanden at 4 years and 10 months

Paisli at 2 years and 5 months

It's coming...

2010-02-15T13:22:00.002-07:00

So in case you haven't noticed my lack of blogging, my lack of social life the fact that I'm always running around in circles and have a million deadlines... here's why!

I'm on the founding board of a charter school that is the approval process with the Idaho Charter commission. Our website is no where near final, but we needed a temporary site for now. Anyways, take a look, and if you know anyone in the Boise area, spread the word!

http://thevillagecharterschool.org

Best Giveaway Ever--Seriously Go Enter!!!

2010-02-10T14:11:00.002-07:00

So, I normally don't enter many giveaways, and I definitely don't blog about them. But what can I say? I really, really, really want one of...

THESE!!

They're from Miss Pretty Pretty's Etsy shop, and she has tons of different house styles, for boys and girls! I love them so. much. Mary Janes and Galoshes is doing a giveaway and you should go enter. Even if you don't want one, you could enter for me!

Her giveaway starts today, and goes until Feb. 15th. All you have to do is leave a comment letting her know which one you'd like! So go over to the shop first and pick one out, then head to Mary Janes and Galoshes to enter!

Best of Luck!
p.s. if you win, can we come over and play?

Dear Corn Syrup,

2010-02-03T16:36:00.003-07:00

We need to talk. I don't think it's fair that you invade every food. Why? You are so bad for me and make me sick. You need to get out of food. Period.

I know I'm not being very friendly, but you see I've been having to avoid you and I'm not enjoying the fact that I have to read every label closely. Have you ever realized how bad you are for people? You should read the book master your metabolism. It will make you sick.

You could possibly be the most common ingredient ever. I think your popularityis about to reach its expiration. You should retire, like Jay Leno, only for real. People will still have fond memories of you, and you will maybe even get a star in the hollywood walk of fame. If you keep sticking around, people will get bored and move on. I'm just saying, I think it would be for the best. I have to go, my daughter just stepped in poop in her bare feet. The smell is still lingering and I just noticed she wiped it on my shirt. It's urgent as you can tell. We'll talk soon.

Your Friend,
Rachael

Picky Eater...Already!

2010-01-21T08:50:00.013-07:00

I'm starting to get a little worried that this baby is making a statement. I was pretty sick up until I discovered that I was routinely throwing up certain parts of every meal. I would eat, and then just be sick and stuck on the couch in pain until eventually I would lose it, not everything, just certain ingredients.

Those ingredients are (in no particular order):

Dairy. The End.

WheatOr anything with flour in it for that matter...

including...
and most desserts :(
Corn Products
including anything with corn syrup
Anything that is classified as a vegetable
Green Herbs like parsley, cilantro, chives...
Beans

But, don't let that fool you a person's gotta eat, so here's what's on the menu:

Rice
Potatoes
Meat. Anything meat. Mostly cooked but just really solid pieces of meat. I'm getting a little sick of chicken.
When I am really desperate I eat a piece of deli meat rolled up with mayo & mustard.
Warning: It's not as good as it may sound.
Plenty of Oranges
and Bananas
And last but not least, I can enjoy a little bit of
Chocolate Goodness.

Don't let my new diet fool you, I'm not exactly eating healthy all the time, I have discovered that guilty pleasures can make up for the things in life I am missing...
or at least make my tummy happy.

I have learned that I can also eat fake cheese. flavored stuff.

Oddly enough I can't eat most crackers of chips, but thanks to the Fiesta Bowl people I discovered my favorite combo:
+= Yummy!

Another snack I can't get enough of..
Apparently made or rice, who knew?

I also still love me some mac n cheese
FYI- I'm not a kraft mac, my FAV is the Walmart brand thick & creamy SO good! Seriously is you haven't tired it, go find it. The white boxes make it confusing, but just look fro thick and creamy in yellow writing. You won't be disappointed. I swear. But don't tell you friends because when they discover your secret, you'll never be able to find it in stock again.
Last but not least:

Thanks to my neighbor for passing away and
letting us inherit 8 boxes of swiss rolls.
I'm pretty sure they fall under several categories I can't eat,
but the chocolate seems to tide the tummy over.

Fiesta Time

2010-01-04T22:28:00.011-07:00

This year we were blessed enough to go to the fiesta bowl this year. And for free. Thanks to John's family for helping watch our kids for five days. John's Company produces the year end DVD for the Broncos, so we were able to get press passes and attend all the events with special perks. Freebies and great seats. The only catch- they made me interview people for the DVD. Completely out of my comfort zone, but worth it.

The first event we went to was the Fiesta Bowl Parade. The BEST part of the parade was that John Cena, who was the Grand Marshall of the parade, saw John with his camera and looked right at us and said "Go Broncos!" Of course, we were on our way out because every single camera battery was dead. So no, we don't have proof. But I do not lie.

The next day was a pep rally for the team. I could not believe all the people, about 7500 or more.

Then it was the "College Football's Largest Party", once again, so many people. I have to admit, there were definately more Boise fans then TCU fans. This actually was not a very good picture, it was about 5 times larger than what you see here. I read somewhere that there were 45,000 people there. The crazy thing is that we ran into 4 people we know.

One of my on the spot moments would be interviewing this guy. I actually didn't know who he was, but someone grabbed my arm and had me interview him. His name is Bergwood and I guess he's in a lot of commercials. He was a pretty funny guy, the most embarrassing part was when I had to ask him his name. I said I was nervous and I forgot it, but I hadn't seen him in a commercial before (until after we came home). We don't watch a lot of TV.

This was during the pre-game warm ups. John was out there on the field getting shots of the players. He said it was amazing.

A shot I took. I just sat on the sidelines and watched in awe. The only bad thing about being on the field is there is no where to sit, so your feet start to hurt. But seriously with all the cheering I did, I don't think I would have sat down anyways.

This is John's back and behind him are the players waiting to come onto the field. They actually showed some scenes John shot of the players up on the big jumbo-tron thing before the players came out.
Here they come!

There were 73,226 people there are we were right there 3 feet from the field. You can see a small part of the stadium in this shot. If I had to guess I would say that Boise fans outnumbered TCS fans 3 to 1. There were SO many blue and orange fans, it was surreal.

(Yes I am aware that in that vest I look VERY huge. They told us we had to wear them to go onto the field, so I did. At half time we learned you only had to wear it if you were shooting. Thank goodness, not the most flattering for pictures.)
Touchdown Broncos! I may have made it on TV during this, right after this shot this guy and a fox TV guy practically ran me over.

Me and Buster Bronco.

These are the horses that come out to block the fans from running onto the field. The grey one is leaving a little present.
This was when my battery died. Right after we won. It was amazing. We were able to be out on the field with all the players, I actually was standing two feet away from Kyle Wilson, Jeremy Avery and Titus young, some of our favorite players. It was surreal. They were all congratulating each other and I got a few pics with my cell phone. Of all the times for my battery to die...

It was an incredible experience. We were so blessed to be able to go. It made the 18 hour drive home a little more bearable.

Yum-my.

2010-01-04T11:45:00.000-07:00

You may or may not know this about me, but birthday cake is my favorite food. I don't care if it's store bought, homemade, whatever, if I'm at a party or a wedding, I wait for the cake. The more frosting, the better (unless it's that whipped stuff, I pretty much count that as a total let down and throw the cake away completely unsatisfied.) I especially love getting a piece with a flower, yum.

If my kids are at a birthday party, I want a piece SO bad and just hope the parents will offer. On the other hand, I also am stingy on sharing my kids birthday cakes with the parents of the guests. I like to have leftovers. My favorite Coldstone Flavor- Cake Batter.

We got to go to the Fiesta Bowl this year, more to come on that, but while we were driving down Scottsdale Road, I spotted Sprinkles. I made John drive me back down there to get some. He teased me a little seeing as how he had never heard of Sprinkles Cupcakes, but I told him I read about them on a few blogs and my cousin Heather's blog made me really want to try them. It is not fair that she lives so close.

A-MAZE-ING. The End.

John was quoted as saying it was "Bizarrly Fantastic". At $3.25 a piece, he really wanted to dislike them. Yet, they did not disappoint.

My reviews-
Top left, Banana Dark Chocolate- Super yummy, delish like banana bread only covered in dark chocolate mmmmm. Great for any time of day, I had it for breakfast and was not disappointed. The Dark Chocolate is definitely a must and a perfect combination, although I saved half of it for later and then the frosting melted off, sad.

Top right, Coconut- SOoooo yummy. I love coconut and it was just the right amount. It was a little stale (I ate it after 2 days in the fridge and one day in the car, but it was still my second favorite. It was delish and I would highly recommend it.

Bottom left, Black & White- Yummy, but not my fav. I think I would definitely get two of the red velvet or coconut next time. Sorry for the bad review, but it didn't impress me.

Bottom right, Red Velvet- If you can only get one flavor, buy this. It was THE BEST. The cream cheese frosting was to die for. I loved it! Every bite. My only regret was that I didn't buy two (and that I gave John a taste- love you honey :)

Spoiled.

2010-01-03T21:36:00.003-07:00

The hotel for the Media was insane. (We stayed in John's boss' hotel which was very very nice, but this hotel was outstanding.) The Tostitos people love the media, they had rooms of free chips, dips, and drinks. If we drank (is that a word?) we could have had any drink we wanted, free. They also had shuttles that would take you anywhere you wanted to go. We even got brand new fossil watches that had the fiesta bowl logo on it. Spoiled, I know.
This was the bathroom.
When I realized that all these towels are just for drying your hands. I had to run out and grab the camera from John just to document this. Talk about fancy.This was the outdoor seating. Water, palm trees, canopies. Beautiful.

Notice the belly bulge. I'm in the awkward stage of not really looking pregnant yet, but not noticeable enough to assume I'm pregnant. I love this stage. Being part of the media, definitely had its perks. Two of the nights they put on a special dinner. The first night was a catered at a mexican restaurant, SO yummy. Then the hotel put on a special dinner for us. Above the hotel, they have an outdoor bar-b-que area that looks like an abandoned ghost town. The food was, once again, so yummy. And the ambiance was really cool, they even had a band come and sing.

6.08.10

2009-12-08T13:15:00.002-07:00

We are truly blessed.

First Day of (home)School

2009-11-05T14:23:00.005-07:00

It has been a crazy and fun year! First off, I'm trying to start a charter school with some friends. It is going to be amazing! It has been a tough summer (actually the last 6 months have been INSANE!), hence the no blogging, and lack of communication to anyone in the outside world.

But now, I feel like I can stop and take a minute to update.

Last year I kept getting a strong impression that I needed to home school Berkli for first grade. Seriously freaked me out and I didn't think it was possible. But the feeling kept coming, stronger and stronger. Over conference weekend in April, I just felt an overwhelming feeling that it was right and what she needed this year. So, I took the plunge. It has been amazing so far. I was lucky enough that her kindergarten teacher got her ahead so that I haven't had to teach a lot of the basics, she's doing awesome! It has been a great experience for me as a mom. She is an amazing girl and I have really enjoyed spending this time with her this year.

Almost two!

2009-11-05T14:01:00.001-07:00

It has been so fun to have another girl! Paisli has the best hair too so it is really fun to get her dolled up!

In August I was able to do her first french braids while she just sat there and let me, I love it!

Just the cutest (almost) two year old I know!

It's about time

2009-09-09T21:49:00.003-06:00

Just for the record, I am sitting down to update my blog. I'm warning you because life with 3 kids has taught me there is a lot I intend to do that I do not get to do. I'm actually just writing this because I'm waiting for my camera to unload the 920 pictures that are stored on there...

I did get some done, from the end of April to the middle of June. Happy Reading!

Girlie Girl

2009-08-14T16:00:00.001-06:00

Paisli wakes up from her nap and wants to go play outside. Berkli informs me she needs pants, so I call her back in.

It's windy and a little chilly so I grab a pair of pink fleece pants, but Paisli grabs the skirt she was wearing earlier. She has shown an obsession with skirts lately...

Then I go to get her shoes on and grab her pink crocs, but she insists on her shoes that have a picture of the Princesses on them.

She now fights over the pink cup and plate at dinner and is insistent upon anything anyone else has. She's a big kid now!

Berkli # 2 here we come!

Some dude's ranch

2009-06-12T23:20:00.000-06:00

Long story short- John's Aunt got a private invitation to go to this huge rodeo, the whole huge family was invited, it was a 45 minute drive for us. We were the first ones there and when John's parents arrived and got out of our car, they told us that his Aunt (the only one who knew anyone)wasn't coming. Our kids already were excited and John's 10 year old cousin who did know the people (I think) came with us. So it was a little aukward but there were a lot of people there and I knew at least 15 people so we did it. I don't think we'll be invited back again, but it was really a lot of fun and well done.

Thanks whoever you are, it was fun! Was it as weird for you as it was for me?

Cookies for sale

2009-06-12T23:09:00.003-06:00

d
l
One day we made cookies, the super yummy Ranger Cookies. Out our of sheer boredom I'm sure, Berkli took a plate of cookies outside.

My two kids sat in front of our driveway holding a plate of cookies yelling "Cookies for Sale" over and over loudly for about 20 minutes. I couldn't decide when to intervene. So I waited a little longer. Now on my street, we are the ONLY family with kids, our street dead ends past our house and so there is not very much traffic. This day in particular, none of my neighbors were even home.

I called Berkli in to ask how it was going. I asked if I could help. I had her wash her hands and we grabbed paper plated and napkins. We talked about how people need to know that she isn't touching the cooking and so I taught her how to serve them with a napkin. Then I helped her price them and make a sign. I figured at $.25 & $3 for 12, we would at least sell a few.

Berkli made like $5 that day thanks to my kind neighbors. For the next few weeks she tried to sell everything from rocks to ranch cups with carrots and broccoli heads, to chocolate chips to pictures she had drawn. That table was hauled outside more times than I ever care to remember, and although she did have some success, it was never as magical as it was that day.

Goodbye Kindergarten!

2009-06-03T23:00:00.000-06:00

Field day is the best day of the year!

Here is our final picture of Mrs. Liles. She is the most amazing Kindergarten teacher ever. My friend says she has a "Mary Poppins" quality and that pretty much nails it, unless you think Mary Poppins is creepy, then I would just say she is "magical"

I had so much fun volunteering in Berkli's class this last year, I will miss it.

Joy School Grad!

2009-05-21T22:50:00.000-06:00

A few of us moms got together and did a Joy School Class this spring. It was a lot of fun and with the 5 of us, we each only taught 3 weeks out a piece, SO worth it! Xanden loved it and I thought the activities were great!

If you ever are thinking of doing a co-op preschool Joy School is amazing, it teaches them to be proud of who they are and makes it easy for parents to keep them busy, we LOVED it! www.valuesparenting.com

Best Kitty Ever

2009-05-21T22:45:00.000-06:00

This picture just looks weird...

All I can say is first, I did not take these pictures, and 2second, our cat is the most patient cat ever.

Seriously, Seriously I'm ticked

2009-05-16T21:52:00.001-06:00

About a week or so before I turned 27 (so at the age of 26) I had the most dreaded experience of my life. I was on a date with my hubby and I stopped to use the pot-tay at the grocery store (hot date, right?) I was making myself all cute in the mirror when I screamed. There is was, sticking out like a needle in a haystack, my first white hair. In shock, I plucked it from my scalp (ouch!) and the coarseness of it was pretty disturbing. I took it out to show John, my face was pretty much stuck with my eyes gaping open and my mouth dropped, he then noticed that I had a few more (thank honey).

There another one is, I know you can see it. I'm done talking about this. Goodbye.

Who could it be?

2009-05-13T22:31:00.000-06:00

Every now and then I'm flipping through some photos and I don't remember taking them.

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, please don't play with mommy's camera. If you decide to do it anyways, try not to leave any evidence...

Who's the culpret?
Not Paisli,
You gotta admit, this is a sweet shot the depth of field is great! Whoever it is, they've inherited some mad skills....

That narrows it down...

I think she likes our front door.

'Nuff Said

2009-05-09T22:29:00.000-06:00

I Live to Create

2009-05-08T13:47:00.004-06:00

I love to sew! I am so grateful that I learned at a young age! My mom had a friend teach me and my brother sewing lessons. Over the year I had learned a lot. I'd made outfits for my american girl doll and it was finally time to make an outfit for myself. I chose a pair of black sling pants (I think that's what they are called, the ones that went over your foot-totally the coolest thing ever--not!) and a red long sleeve shirt with black stripes on the sleeves. It was hideous! I pretty much only ever wore it camping. I hated it and gave up on sewing clothes from that time on.

From that class I gained the confidence I needed to design my own stuff and be able to make what I want! I think it is the most important skill I've learned. I LOVE IT! I love the fabric store and all the choices I have. Although I secretly wish I could design my own fabric. I always have a picture in my mind of what I want and so I have a really hard time finding something that will work once I go to the store. If I could I would buy one of these and do it myself! Seriously- don't you want one? I do, BAD!

Anyways, I've been surprised at how little fear I have when it comes to sewing. I just know I can figure it out (with help or by myself). Now that I have kids I enjoy it even more! I have made blankets, a tree skirt and Christmas stockings, dresses and bags, I also made my birthday banner . If I can see it, I can make it! Or so I think! But seriously sometimes a pattern comes along and it just tickles me to the bone! I LOVE THIS PATTERN!

My sister in law Dena told me about this cute doll pattern and I had to make one! It was super easy and fun! Paisli loves it! I just want to make a ton of them!

Martha Stewart had these on her show they are Black Apple Dolls and about the funnest thing I've made! I took her pattern and didn't follow her instructions so my arms and legs are a little thin. I would also recommend leaving the top 3/4" of the arms and legs empty so you can sew them to the body together easier (mine were stuffed and I broke a needle.) I wanted to change the hair so I added some pig tails and I love it! I also hand stitched her face and added ribbon for her waist and three little buttons down the side!

The only drawback- if you look close, you'll see her left arm is about 1/2 lower than her right. Gotta LOVE handmade!

I am grateful for my ability to sew, it brings me joy!

To Answer Your Question

2009-05-08T13:44:00.005-06:00

I've had a lot of people ask how it's been going with the dog.

Any Questions?

The kids love him, I think he's stinky and I'm sick of having another person drag toys all over the house. Not to mention he is not completely house trained and I guess that's the sacrifice I have to make for my kids to love their pets. I WOULD NOT DO IT FOR ME! But I will do it for them...

I guess to sum it up, I REALLY LOVE MY KIDS!

Honestly- The pets are okay. Seeing how much my kids love them makes it so worth it. Knowing that when the dog runs away he may or may not come back- I'm pretty indifferent, but deep down I come back to reality and think about the fact that we would just be throwing our money away if we lost him. It would be a shame. My kids would miss him. I might miss him.

There are a lot of things I wouldn't miss. I wouldn't miss his gobbly whine (he seriously sounds like a rooster sometimes), I wouldn't miss finding half eaten flip flops and toys in my room. I wouldn't miss him trying to take food out of Paisli's hands. I would not miss not having to clean up muddy paw prints on my floor or poop for that matter. I would not miss that fact that his body doesn't tollerate orange rinds. I wouldn't miss him barking. I WOULD NOT miss him trying to run in the front yard every time the door opens.

I would miss the way he always tries to worm his way under the blanket- it's pretty funny when we first got him he would sneak under the covers at night and cuddle by my feet. I think it's gross so I won't let him do it, but it was weird. I would miss his cute face and the way he stretches after a nap. I would miss seeing him chase my kids around the yard. I would msis him wrestling the cat so she stays out of my hair. I would miss seeing my kids smile because they love him to death.

Then I usually go chase him down the street while he runs away only eventually to trap him in a corner. That pretty much resets all the things I wouldn't miss, it's pretty much the fact that we would be throwing our money away to get rid of him at this point. I hate throwing money away, therefore we will keep the dog. For now!

Kindergarten Zoo Trip

2009-05-06T22:17:00.000-06:00

s
I was able to go to the zoo with Berkli's Kindergarten class. It was a little crazy with 50 kids and and about half of the parents showed up too.

I don't know if you have ever tried to take pictures of a kid smiling and an animal, it is pretty much impossible because they are both always moving. I'm pretty thrilled with this shot.

Berkli's Kindergarten class could not have been better! The girls were all so sweet and we are going to miss them all!
I had never been in the discovery center before, but it was quite fascinating. They had these baby skunks that were the size of a hamster, so cute, smelly, but cute!

Clearing my mind

2009-05-04T16:42:00.005-06:00

I feel like I'm really busy and I'm not sure what is going on but I don't ever get anything done.

Here's what I am NOT doing:
blogging, dishes, wishing it was winter, taking a nap, laundry, watching my 20 month old (who now pushes here chair all over the kitchen to get what she wants...it's dangerous-AND messy!), enjoying the rain, chasing my dog who just ran away, getting ready for the BBQ we're supposed to go to tonight

Here's what I AM doing:
Helping with art in Berkli's classroom, taking her to and from Kindergarten, going to the zoo with kindergarten on Wednesday, trying to figure out where all my time goes, making chocolate chip cookies that are officially the worst EVER- Not only did I shortchange the chocolate, but they are sticky and tasteless I got on the phone and they got WAY overmixed and turned into sticky dough, trying to organize a three month supply, preparing a talk in church, planning an enrichment activity on food storage- did I mention I am the ward canning specialist! I love it, and yes, I'm a nerd, reading my friends friends blogs, missing old friends, wearing shorts again, planning on homeschooling Berkli, needing to go check on all the clanging in the kitchen coming from Paisli, wanting to take a vacation, laying sod, seeding, going to plant a garden, using too many commas because I'm too tired to make a complete thought, wishing I was doing something crafty, doing the craft for the afternoon kindergarten class too, changing any more diapers today, going to tell my kids to pick up their toys again, wanting to stop this extremely long run on sentance, thinking that spell checker is not catching my mistakes, missing my computer, needing to get up and do something today, planning on watching 24 tonight, and LOST on Wednesday and the Office Thursday, glad Michael's back, and Ryan's gone, "Oh the turn tables..."- if you know that we are friends, wondering if Jack is going to die, thinking it's not likely, so LOST it's not even funny, loving that show, thinking that I am slightly obsessed with those shows, Wishing that I knew how they would end but not really wanting them to end, thinking that I should get back into reality and think about something important, not wanting swine flu, thinking it's highly unlikely to get it, thinking swine flu might be more disgusting than lice-I know it's not "gross but who wants to be know as the person who got swine flu, totally giving up on my punctuation, hoping that someone is still reading, doubting anyone is, laughing at myself for thinking that I am writing something anyone would read, sort of glad that my dog just came back, sort of annoyed that he did, trying to cook off a menu this whole month, realizing that I don't want to, needing to go grocery shopping, hating that idea, loving my vitamix, thinking I am going to stop at any minute, feeling like this was therapeutic in a way, thinking that I don't even want to know how long I've been doing this, the end.

4 Years

2009-04-29T22:02:00.001-06:00

Our poor little guy kept having to postpone his celebrating because we had so much going on in April. For Xanden's birthday this year we decided to take him and two friends to the movie to see Monsters vs. Aliens. We tried to go one night, but couldn't get a babysitter for Paisli so we told him we couldn't go (devastating to a 4 year old) and ended up watching John's sister preform in a dance festival (way to go Stace!). He was so patient and after lots of tears and agony, we decided to combine our family party and his friends party.

A little disclaimer- the cupcakes were Batman, we had cousin's school that afternoon and Berkli made Xanden chocolate butterflies to go with the cupcakes. They really did have Batman rings on them, so it was totally a superhero party. Right?

Noah, Stan, John, Berkli & Xanden

The boys all had a lot of fun going to the "Big Theatre" and getting popcorn. I'm just glad after all that the postponing he was happy and felt special for his special day! Love you Xanden!

Sneak Peak

2009-04-17T13:52:00.005-06:00

We are unofficially the wedding photographers for the Smith fam. It all started when I offered to do Dena's photos for her wedding. I really don't know what I was thinking and the whole time I was just praying that we would get a good shot. I guess we did okay because now it's time for round two.

John's younger sister Heather got married to Paul Talbot this weekkend at the Columbia River Temple. Some of you may recognize her from when she came home off of her mission in the hot pink suit not even 10 months ago...

Congrats guys!

We sisters & sister in laws all made the 7 cousins matching dresses! They looked adorable but it was sort of a nightmare. But I do think it has paid off well, the photos will be priceless!

Letter to teacher

2009-04-07T14:04:00.005-06:00

Berkli's Teacher is out of school for family medical reasons. Berkli wrote her the sweetest letter and I had to type it up so you could too!

Dear miss lilse
my tooth was looss I opind a bag of marshmells But on monday my dad know How to get my tooth out of my mouth he rapt a pees of fred arand my tooth and on The door then he closd it and then I Run Then my tooth felld out I got a ballr.
Love,
Berkli

What happened?
For the record- John tied a string to the door and then to her tooth. He slammed the door and she ran with the string and ended up smacking her face on the door, which knocked out her tooth.

I had the video camera, but I wasn't expecting her to move with the door, so I missed it all. I'm pretty sure it was the funniest thing I've ever seen.

It did actually work and she was very happy, it didn't hurt at all! And the tooth fairy left her a dollar under her pillow. John thought we should leave the tooth in a jar by the sink, apparently that's how they did it, but I really think the tooth fairy prefers pillows! Xanden saw her and she was blue. That's all we know!

Someone Sneezed...

2009-03-30T09:00:00.002-06:00

Last Week was spring break. We had hopes and dreams and they all fell through. First, Berkli started off the break by missing school Friday because she was sick. She was better Saturday but then I got sick Saturday and Sunday. Berkli got sick again Monday and I was sick again Tuesday. I read the Anne of Green Gables series and the kids watched a lot of TV. Fun huh? We did go to the Movies on Wed. and the Zoo on Thursday. On Friday:

Friday at about 2:30, my kids yelled "Mom, Mom come see!"
So I raced over to the window, and looked out and this is what I saw.

Did someone sneeze?

Boise has been known to have some big wind storms, but Friday there wasn't even a breeze.

It looks small in the pictures, but I can assure you it was a HUGE tree! So instead of all the fun stuff we wanted to do this weekend, we got to chop up some firewood and sweep up the street. It took about 12 hours to clean up the mess. Luckily the Elder's Quorum president & his dad came and helped us cut up the tree for 2 hours on Friday Night.

The crazy thing was that the kids were helping us sweep it all up and take sticks to the backyard. We spent from about 3pm on Friday until 9pm Saturday cleaning up. At the end of the day Berkli said to John "Daddy, this has been the best day ever. I LOVE today, I am SO happy!" I guess when you're helping you're happy- it's really true!

Tender Mercies: No one got hurt. It didn't break our fence. John always parks right where it fell, he even came home for lunch Friday, and if it had fallen an hour sooner it would have landed on his car! Saturday night we had a huge wind storm and it probably would have fallen then, on the car, and then we'd have had to spend all day Sunday cleaning up. We feel so blessed that everything worked out so well! Not to mention- I've hated that old half dead tree since we moved in!

It's official...we've LOST it!

2009-03-15T15:29:00.008-06:00

For Berkli's Birthday, she aquired quite the stash of cash. John & I decided to let her pick out a bike. She had some money left over, so I took her to the store to look at fish, but she really wanted a cat. I don't know what I was thinking.

Saturday, we went to the Humane Society, and looked for cats. We found one we liked that was pretty and declawed, but she wouldn't let the kids hold her, well they couldn't hold her anyways because she was too fat. The lady asked us if we had any other pets at home. We told her no and she introduced us to this cat (who apparently was returned because he doesn't like other pets- he's a jealous cat!)

The woman held him upside down, up in the air, pulled his tail, whatever, he didn't care. We decided that was the cat for us! And for the record, it's a SHE not a he, I keep calling her a he and Berkli gets mad at me!

Meet our cat Sparkle!

We went to pay for Sparkle and there was this cute dog behind the counter. I told John to come look and we both decided he was cute. So we asked if we could take him for a walk. And, needless to say, we really liked him. Paisli even said her first words (besides Mommy & Daddy) "Buppy, Buppy" She kept saying it over and over and he was really good with her. The Humane Society is a dangerous place!

We decided what the heck, let's try it, so we bought a dog too! We have 30 days to return either one, but we promised Berkli we would keep the cat over the dog -seeing as how the cat doesn't like other pets.

His name is Titus, but I want to rename him, we just don't know what yet. He's a 6 month old Chihuahua Mutt, so Xanden & I call him Chihuahua. He's really fun and not too big. I like him because he can't knock Paisli over and she LOVES him! Plus our kids aren't afraid of him, and he's really good with them too! They love to pet him and he seems to like them a lot. He plays fetch and goes potty outside.

Meet our unnamed Dog!

I bought this Pink Couch on clearance before we found our cat, I thought it was too funny And perfect for Berkli. It's actually the whole motivation for me wanting a cat. Berkli had been asking for a cat, and I wasn't sure how I felt. Then I saw this couch and I thought "why not?" Now we have a boy dog who loves this pink couch- didn't see that one coming!

So far, it's been 24 hours, and the cat and dog get along great. The cat hid from everyone for most of yesterday, but Sparkle let Berlkli hold him for the first time today. Cats usually take a while to get used to everyone. Berkli was really patient with him yesterday and didn't try to chase her at all, she kept saying "I need to be patient so she can get used to me." Sparkle doesn't seem to mind the dog at all, and she was even playing with him this morning and teasing him.

Chihuahua (or Titus) played with the kids in the yard all day yesterday. Xanden loves to run and have him chase him. Paisli kept saying "Bubby, Bubby" all day yesterday and today at church she was asking for him.

But most importantly, we made it through the night, everyone slept through the night! Titus likes his pink couch and slept on it great. We did lock the cat in the laundry room but we don't want her to wake the kids up at night. So far, it seems like we picked two great animals! We'll see how I'm feeling after 30 days!

Paisli is just getting so much personality! She kept saying Buppy for about an hour in that exact tone, it's too cute! We couldn't resist her love for the Buppy, and we are just glad we got such a calm puppy that is so good with kids!

(He was born on September 13, a day before Paisli's 1 st birthday!)

She's 6!

2009-02-26T10:53:00.003-07:00

I can't believe she's 6! I just love her to pieces! She is so creative and so much fun! She is very generous and is always sharing with her siblings. Everyday she brings home her snack from school for Xanden because she knows he enjoys it! I just can't imagine our family without her. She is reading really well and is a really good student. I just love being her mom!

For Breakfast we had "sprinkle pancakes" and then she got some art supplies from us. WE went out to eat at the iceburg, and got a milkshake and hamburgers, which she said were better than McDonald's hamburgers. It was fun! Afterwards, we let her pick out a new bike, and she got to ride it around the store, it was really cute, and she loved it!
Paisli and I went shopping at Target after Valentine's Day and found this cute puppy for Berkli for $2, so I got it. Paisli had to carry it around the store the whole time and was obsessed with it. I forgot that when we gave it to BErkli last night, Paisli SCREAMED when she saw it and kept crying until Berkli let her hold it. It was hilarious! And the cutest thing I've ever seen!

Now about me :) I'm trying really hard to make Birthdays really special and easy! So I made the Birthday Banner, and it was REALLY fun! My sister in law found a picture of it online, and I made up a pattern and I just love it! This was the first time I got to use it and I just think it turned out so great! I LOVE it! I actually made it twice. I made a double sided on that says "Party" and "Congrats" on the back. When I hung it up, it said "HAPPY YADHTRIB." So, I took it apart and put i back together and then it said "STARGNOC" on the back! I was so mad! So, I was going to cut it apart on the seams and sew them back together, but I decided that I didn't want them any smaller, so I took them apart piece by piece. I then cut new back, because the double-sided letters were see through and didn't look good, so I decided to do plain backs. I also added batting and they look really good now! But I am officially crazy and an insane sewer. I rip out a lot of seams because I am such a perfectionist! I also will now have a total of four banners, because my party & congrats are still really cute!

Let's Make Cupcakes!

2009-02-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

Berkli's Class has been learning all about penguins.
I thought it would be fun to make Penguin Cupcakes for her Birthday.

So, With Berkli's Help, I made 30 Penguin Cupcakes.

Which were really fun!

But they don't look very much like cupcakes.

Her class loved them! I was very apologetic to all the moms for sugaring their kids up right before lunch!
Here's how we made them: (disclaimer: there's an awesome book called "hello cupcake" that I got this idea from, and I am now going to buy, I didn't have their instructions so ours were a little lopsided and not nearly as cute.) We frosted a cupcake and topped it with a mini chocolate covered donut. Then we added a donut hole for the head, and frosted the sides to cover all the lumps. We set them in the freezer for an hour. Then dipped them in melted chocolate frosting. While the frosting was warm, we pressed in the details. For the wings we used a nabisco chocolate wafer, cut in half. For the Tummy we cut the ends off of marshmallows, we used both ends and threw the middle away. For the beak we cut a starbust into 4 triangles and pressed them in. Then we let them cool in the fridge, and I added the eyes with white frosting and confetti sprinkles pressed in for color.

I made the cupcakes and I added all the donuts by myself while Berkli was asleep. I froze them. I also prepped by cutting all the stuff up and having it on plates. Berkli helped me add the details. She loved it and did a great job, it was really fun!

Joy School!

2009-02-23T11:09:00.000-07:00

I just think Joy School is so fun! Xanden and 4 of his friends all get together two days a week and the moms take turns teaching! This was my week and we had a lot of fun! On Monday, we had a hot dog roast in the backyard! We were learning about the earth and animals and our 5 senses. The best part is they tell you what to do, so it's amazing & easy!
I was a little hesistant to start a fire and roast hot dogs, but it ended up being REALLY fun and easy! I wish I had done more fun things like this with Berkli!

Xanden loved it and he just thought it was so cool! He's getting so big and smart! He plays lego Star Wars on the Wii and just has a blast (he would play it all day everyday already, but I let him play about 30 minutes a few times a week) I also had to put a password on my computer because he's an internet guru. He gets on PBS kids go every chance he gets. He is obsessed with electronics, he's a mini John I guess! I just love him, and think he's so cool! And yes, his face is always dirty no matter how much we wash it!

Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T22:14:00.001-07:00

Our kids have so much fun with their cousins, we started a cousins' school! Every Wednesday we get together and divide up the older kids (Berkli-6 & Cami- 7 1/2) and the four younger cousins (Laila-3, Xanden- 3 1/2, Stan & Jetta-4 1/2). So far the kids love it and 1 mom gets a 5 hour break (from everyone but the babies, we each have 1 of those so that would be insane!).

For Valentines day we decorated the heart shaped valentine holders and then they traded valentines. We decorated cookies, and had a mini Valentine's party. It's been so fun to have all our cousins so close! We love it and I'm so glad they can all be friends!

Can you believe this?

2009-01-16T12:04:00.004-07:00

So I love to vent, it's what I do best! I know it's not good for me, but seriously I have a gripe.
With my babysitter, I mean ex-babysitter, and since I can't say anything to her directly(for fear of offending her family) I thought I would post a little gripe.

After we got home from our date on Saturday, I had a thought that we should find a new babysitter. Not sure why.

Berkli is probably going to have to get another eye surgery (another story for another time, we find out on Tuesday for sure) and she's been nervous, so we've been telling her stories to get her calm about it. She still remembers when they took her away last time and is freaked out!

John told her a story about how when he got his wisdom teeth out he got laughing gas and he laughed and laughed and fell asleep and then woke up and they were gone.

Apparantly her babysitter disagreed. On Sunday after church this is what my daughter says to me:
"You and daddy are liars."
"Excuse me?"
"You guys lied to me, Babysitter X said that she had laughing gas and it didn't make her fall asleep. She said they gave her something else. You guys are liars. Why did you lie to me?"

I'm not sure what my answer was and that isn't really the point. My previous thoughts were confirmed that we did need a new babysitter.

So then later Berkli tells me:

" Mom, babysitter X says that you put the presents under the tree, not Santa. She said that you guys are Santa and that he's not real and that you guys bought our presents at the store. You guys are just pretending that Santa did it."

EXCUSE ME!!!

Completely taken back, I didn't know what to say, so I said "(Actually I think my first words were she's a liar, but that was kinda first grade and not exactly teaching my child good values so I then said "Well, what do you think?"

She said "I don't know"

I then got my senses back a little bit and said "Well, I bet that she was on Santa's naughty list and he didn't bring her any toys, so she's just mad at him because we all know that if you don't believe in Santa he doesn't bring you any toys."

Berkli & Xanden then said "Yeah, I believe in Santa, he brought me lots of toys."

I was so floored! I can't even believe it! Why does a 12 year think it's her business to obviously inflict her depressing values on my child! (To give her some credit their dad left their mom with 5 kids when she was very young, but still!)

Needless to sat I will be much more careful and talk to my babysitters about what's appropriate to tell my kids!

It's about time....

2008-12-21T13:19:00.005-07:00

John graduated on Friday!!!!!

We are in the process of sending out announcements, but I barely mailed our Christmas cards, so that will have to wait! It was very exciting, we were both teary eyed as we realized the finality of it all. It felt really good, and I'm glad he walked. Our seats were in the perfect spot, we could see him so well, and he could see us too!

It's OVER!!! There were 1050 graduates and only 1 for his degree! He also was 1 of about 150 who graduated with honors. He would have had the higher honor because his BSU GPA for the past four years was 3.79 , but his credits from his teenage years pulled him to a 3.67. But still, he did REALLY well!

He got a bachelor of Arts in the Interdisciplinary Studies*. Which means he designed a degree to fit the field he wanted to go into. He combined 3 majors into 1. His degree was in New Media Creation & Design. He took classes in Video Production, 3D animation, Music Composition, Orchestration, & Graphic Design. It was actually a miracle that he found this program. Which fits his career perfectly.

Xanden was impressed, and just sat and watched and stared the whole time and kept saying how proud he was of daddy. I was worried about the kids, but they were all well behaved (until Paisli got tired). Berkli came late because she had a Christmas Party at her school she didn't want to miss. When she got there, it was about 10 minutes before John walked (which was good, I think she would have hated all the talks and been bitter about the party). She just cheered so hard for daddy! It was great to see him accept his "fake" diploma and I felt such excitement and relief!

After each school graduated Berkli cheered "WooHoo Daddy!" Then after it was all over for about 5 minutes straight she was cheering so loud "Good Job Daddy, Daddy Good Job!" SO loud, and with all her might. I think she really wanted him to hear! By the time I thought to grab the camera, I'm pretty sure she her throat was hurting because she wouldn't do it anymore. Of course.

John's Aunt also graduated in the same class, and so his parents & grandparents put on a celebration for him! We had a family dinner of ham & potatoes. His younger sisters have been DYING to have a family dance, so we also had a family dance afterwards. Berkli danced the whole time, along with all the girls, but the guys were not too interested. It was great fun. We were exhausted after that!

Paisli did not enjoy dancing at all and finally crashed after a few hours of walking around upset.

*A little background on his "Fake Degree" we were making fun of it because it sounds like a "Special Ed" type degree.

We are blessed because he had take a year and a half of classes as a Music Composition Major. Everything we looked at doing was going to force him to start completely over. It was very discouraging. He got a blessing before the school year started that told him he would find the answers. Halfway through the year, he met a kid who told him about the Interdisciplinary Studies program. You can combine 2-3 majors into 1 degree that fits your field. It was a miracle! John went through the book and picked classes he wanted to take. They ranged from Music, Graphic Design & Video. When he wrote them on paper, he had exactly the amount of upper and lower division classes he needed. So after months of paperwork and approval, he was set!
For those of you who don't know, John got his GED and went to college at 16. I still can't believe we had to take 4 1/2 years at BSU for a degree, I've always been frustrated that he didn't get more done then! But, he said something the other day that made sense, his field didn't exist back then. Most of what he does (Motion Graphics, 3D animation, videography) is for the web, and you just couldn't do then what you can do now!

Mr. Peeps, our Elf.

2008-12-21T12:58:00.003-07:00

Christmas is approaching, and this is the day
Santa has sent Mr. Peeps to your house to stay.

He sends this small elf to your house and mine.
The day after Thanksgiving, He must be on time.

Mr. Peeps has a purpose. His purpose will be,
To whisper to Santa all the good that he sees.

Soon after he gets here, he moves only at night
To high places, low places, he stays in plain sight.

In the kitchen, for instance, he sits high on a shelf.
Mr. Peeps can sit anywhere, for he is an elf.

He holds very still when he thinks you are watching.
His magic is precious, it fades with one touching.

He sits on the tree on Christmas Eve day.
He knows that Santa is soon on his way.

He waits and he waits without making a noise.
He waits until Santa arrives with the toys.

So you better be nice and mind what you say
Because Mr. Peeps will tell Santa when he comes with his sleigh.

Once Christmas is here and Santa has come,
Mr. Peeps must leave, for his job is well done.

But, he will return next year on the very same day,

To watch your behavior as you work and play.

This was fun, Santa needed me to help make him some clothes, so he actually didn't make it at Thanksgiving this year. But I bet next year he'll be on time! We keep finding him in the most unusual places, sometimes he even hangs upside down from the curtains! "Paisli" keeps making messes all over the house, but I keep telling the kids that I don't need to know who did it, Mr. Peeps knows and he'll tell Santa who really did it!

If you'd like to have an elf come to you house, all you have to do is make "an outfit" and Santa will send him to your house! He was really fun and a little tricky, but pretty easy for the average seamstress. He took me about 8 hours.

http://www.thecrazyquilter.com/ click on Tenderberry Stitches and the Christmas Elf. You don't get the story, but you get a great pattern!

Unveiling of the 2008 ornaments...

2008-12-15T10:03:00.008-07:00

For those of you who are new to my blog, I have a fun ornament tradition I do every year. You can read all about it here...

Paisli's ornament 2008!

We bought Paisli this "Snowbabies" ornament. She's our first blue eyes baby and I liked how this ornamnet accents the blue eyes so well. Plus, she is such a happy soul that we loved how it says "laugh"!

Xanden's Ornament 2008

When we went to Disneyland --oh my gosh, I just realized I STILL haven't blogged that trip...- he was really afraid of all the rides. We had to literally DRAG him on every ride kicking and screaming, but, he ALWAYS loved them! So Grandma Princess bought him this Buzz Lightyear gun to "protect him." They had a mini keychain one and I wanted to get him this ornament so he could remember our trip!

Berkli's Ornament 2008

When we went to Disneyland, Berkli got to eat lunch at Ariel's Grotto! All the princesses came around to each table and signed autographs, and took pictures with all the girls. It was so fun, and such a highlight for Berkli to meet all her favorite princesses!

But then, last night I realized that she did start kindergarten this year, and that really was a HUGE milestone for her! I want to put an ornament up of her kindergarten picture, so this will probably change seeing how her last 3 ornaments all have princesses on them!

Family Trip Ornament 2008

Um, in case you haven't guessed, we went to Disneyland. I'm sure you don't believe me since there are no pictures to prove it, but where else do you get the keychains? (When you buy as amny ornaments as I do in a year, you start to notice that keychains and small toys make GREAT cheap ornaments!)

Our Family Ornament 2008

With John graduating this year I thought it would only be fitting that our ornament represent the last 4 years! Plus, what else do you do with a tassel? But I have to admit we are way bummed that it is white, what's up with that?

O Christmas Tree...

2008-12-15T08:30:00.002-07:00

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, we finally got our Christmas Tree!!!

It's a little bit late this year, but with John GRADUATING in 4 days!!! It's been busy at our house! (He finished up school last Monday, but we had such a busy week we couldn't get out tree until Saturday.) I grew up with fake trees my whole life, but ever since we've lived in Boise we've had real trees. I really enjoy going and picking out a tree.

We usually drive up to McCall and tromp throught the deep snow, I LOVE it! We were going to go to Idaho City and hunt through tthe forest for our trees, but a huge snow storm came through and ruined our plans! (although I'm not sure anyone was really that upset about not having to do the hour drive to get there...)

John's sister Dena & her husband Ben came with us. She saw that Fred Meyer had trees on sale for $18! So we went! Just for the record, this was the best lot I've seen with the best prices, these trees were normally only $20, which is the cheapest I've seen them in town. They are Douglas Firs, and so far it's been our prettiest tree, and it's very soft! (the ones you find in the forest are usually bare, and all ours have been very prickly!)

Brook & Paisli had matching hats! I bought this for Berkli when she was a baby, & Dena found the same one at a garage sale! It's so fun to have all these babies!

Ta da!!! Once again, notice how there are no ornaments on the bottom half of the tree! Coincidence? I think not!

I'm it....

2008-12-10T20:52:00.003-07:00

1. Embarrassing Moment: Well recently I decided to be all brave and introduce myself to one of the mom's at Berkli's school. Keep in ming that she and her daughter are both super trendy and cute even in sweats. So I'm talking to her for about 5 minutes. Then I pick up Berkli, and sit down in my car. My nose itches so I brush it with my hand, and a HUGE buger falls in my lap. Yep that really happened. SO embarrassing! Hello, you could have told me!

2. best friends: John, Jen, & My mom

3. things I buy regularly: milk, eggs, bread (or John really wishes I did, for some reason we are usually out of one of these!), diapers, things we don't need...

This is a boring question, how about Most fun purchase recently: We just bought a new 42" LCD for John' graduation present. We LOVE it! (there, wasn't that more fun!?)

4. places I want to go: Europe & Hawaii

5. goals for the upcoming year: I'm boring tonight sorry, work on sticking to a budget (www.youneedabudget.com) get our 3 month supply of food done, Go to Hawaii or on a big trip for graduation...

6. things most people don't know about me: Um, I have had two miscarriages, one in between each kid. Sorry that's all I could come up with...

7. things I would never say: I LOVE LAUNDRY!!!

8. things I love about the Christmas season: the snow, the smells, making homemade candy (I have killer recipes for caramels & almond roca), sugar cookies, baking, decorating the tree, the lights, carols, playing Santa, surprising John with a really good gift!

9. things I say to my spouse/pet/kid(s): Love you!

10. things I do a lot: Go to Costco, change diapers, check my email.
Once again, boring, how about "Places you wish you would go more": Out to eat(anywhere that doesn't have a playplace) the oregon coast

11. things I would rather not live without: A hot shower, deodrant- let's just say hygeine items!, chocolate (really good stuff), birthday cake, a computer, warm weather, good food!

12. people I tag: anyone who wants to!

Impromptu Haircut!!!

2008-12-02T12:16:00.005-07:00

So last night the hair fairy visited our house.

You always know it's her because she leaves you clues.

The first ones we found were in the toilet. John was the first one to discover it "Why is there hair in the toilet?" he asks.

After a quick observation and using some simple reasoning skills "Hmm.. there are lots of 5" pieces of brown curly hair in our toilet. Pretty sure that wasn't there this morning..." I had an idea of where it came from.

Then I proceeded to check my daughter's head. Sure enough the whole right side of her hair was gone! This was not our first visit from the hair fairy, this is like our 5th or 6th! She really likes our house for some reason, must be our shampoo!

This picture is her after her shower, if you look close, you'll notice that the hair on the left is about 5 inches shorter than the hair on the right.

So I'm not sure this was wise, but I cut it all as even as I could and sent her off to school! Luckily her hair is curly so you can't tell if it's straight or not! I still will probably have to get it done professionally, but we'll see how it looks! She was pretty mad at me and didn't understand why I had to cut it off.

It actually is REALLY cute! Her bangs that we have been growng out for YEARS, are now the same length as the rest of her hair and so I think it will all grow out quite well. Plus, it's a really cute cut on her! Her hair is just big waves now, I hope it didn't completely cut off her curl! I won't know until tomorrow! Aahh! That's probably the saddest part, I hope it's still there!

Kindergarten Pictures!

2008-12-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

After Retakes we ended up with a photo that we really like! I had to scan it and it looks a little dark, but you can still see how cute it is!

Happy Piggies

2008-12-01T12:08:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to reassure everyone that Paisli really is happy with her piggies! She just has totally straight hair, which is weird to me because both Berkli & Xanden have such curly hair!

Really Good!

2008-11-24T17:42:00.008-07:00

Um, so as most of you know, I am a Twilight fan. I am no longer embarrassed by my obsession. Have you read the books? Well, if you haven't DO NOT judge me. I was once like you. I thought it sounded retarded, and even immature. I thought um, seriously moms read that too? Okay, so it's for teenage girls, right?

Well, someday when you get a spare moment, and you finally peek and open up the first chapter and begin reading, you will understand. And then you will feel really bad for mocking all of us who are in love with a teenage vampire named Edward. Yes, that's right I am secretly in love with a fictional character. What does my husband think? Well, the fact that it is one of the most romantic stories I've ever read I think he likes it.

Oh, and I watched the movie. And LOVED it. I had dreams about it all night. I have to say that all the characters did an excellent job portraying the feelings of the story. I felt they all did a really good job at portraying the story line. Edward did an awesome job! (I mean Robert Pattinson), and Kristin Stewart really played a great Bella. I would recceomend it!

Was it as good as the book? Not even close. Would I watch it again? Oh yeah. Will I buy it? Uh huh! Will it become one of my top 10 favorites? You bet!

Real Piggies!

2008-11-20T08:50:00.003-07:00

I know that these pictures make me look like the meanest mom ever. But this is all I have! I put Paisli's hair in real pig tails yesterday! She looked SO cute! At the end of the day, one was going up, and one was going down, it was too cute!
Berkli never had this much hair this young, so it's SO fun to get to do Paisli's hair! John has never really gotten into me doing the kids hair. But, he was SO cute, I got one pig tail in, and Paisli started fighting me, John came in and saw how cute it was, and held her so I could put the other one in! It was a really sweet daddy daughter moment! (Once again, no camera)

a little disclaimer:
She's not actually crying because of the pig tails, I went to enrichment with my mother in law, and all of a sudden Pailsi just started puking everywhere, a lot. Then she fell asleep in the car and I woke her up to put her jammies on. I just had to get a picture, mad face & all!

Fall Leaves

2008-11-20T07:56:00.005-07:00

Fall is my favorite time of year! I love to watch the leaves change colors! We went for a walk down at Katharine Albertson's Park. This time of year, the trees all look gorgeous, the ducks are still there, and it's just a nice peaceful walk.

John had the camera, and I realize that is never a good thing. I remember posing for lots of pictures with the kids. It's so pretty there and easy to get a picture! Um, where are they you ask? Well apparently my husband prefers to take videos, of trees. I'm not sure what happened but we ended up with lots of videos of trees.This would be our front yard! We have a beautiful maple tree that has finally dropped all of its leaves!

We are the type of people who refuse to rake until all the leaves have fallen.

The kids sure have had fun playing in them!

Just wait until you see our backyard.

Um, never mind it's really embarrassing! We have a 50 year old tree that has just about
dropped every leaf, and a 6" pile of leaves everywhere you walk! We believe in crushing them a little so they fit in the bags easier :) Apparently we have a lot of beliefs about leaves, that also conveniently help us to avoid dealing with them!

Paisli's Halloween!

2008-10-31T21:00:00.000-06:00

I decided to make Halloween super simple this year. This was the first year I haven't been sewing around the clock, and also the first year we didn't match. It was nice. And I have to admit, that kids don't really seem to care what they wear!

I was shopping at DI and I found practically brand new Ninja Turtle & Spiderman costumes. So I bought them. When it came to Halloween, Xanden decided he just wanted to wear a Superman cape over his normal clothes, the same one he wears almost everyday. And Berkli just wanted to wear a princess dress-up, the same one she wears everyday. It was super easy. Oh, and my camera didn't have a memory card in it (who knew! Apparantly, someone borrowed it) So, all the pictures are on my camera's internal drive? And so we'll see if I can ever get them off!

I think that my picture Karma is bad. I must have really offended my camera, or my computer because they are in a conspiracy to make it so I don't have any pictures. It's VERY frustrating!

Luckily I did get a few cute pics of Paisli & her friend Bridger! She was a cheerleader (well, she wore a cheerleader sweatshirt) Don't judge me!

Halloween!

2008-10-31T17:00:00.002-06:00

Paisli took her first steps over Halloween! Well, she took her "first" steps before we went to California, but this was the first time she walked to me from a few feet away!

Here is the Superman Cape. Great Costume, right?

Berkli found her cousins HOT PINK lipstick, and was in Heaven!

Xanden's Party

2008-10-30T08:13:00.000-06:00

So I threw Xanden an impromptu birthday party! Um, didn't he just have a birthday, you might ask? Well , yes he did, in April. No I am no raising the world's fastest growing boy (although his appetite might beg to differ).

I have just thrown Berkli some elaborate parties in the past, and I was feeling A LOT of guilt about it, so I decided I needed to do it. I just needed the pictures, so I invited over some friends, threw up some crepe paper, and got a cake. Very simple, but I really just needed it for the pictures so he would know how much I love him!

And this is what it looked like!
Um, how is this the only picture I have of the party? I'm not sure. I know we do have some video, but I guess in all my spontaneous planning, this is all I got. So much for saving hurt feelings in the future. My poor middle child!

Now don't get me wrong, this is Cooper and he's a cutie (for those of you from GR, this is Travis Castillion's 2nd little boy, he & his wife Crystal live about 10 minutes away, but now they are moving back to GR, why again?)

Seriously three kids has done something to my brain!

Best Movie, EVER!!!

2008-10-30T07:57:00.000-06:00

Okay, so now that I've got your attention!

I know, I'm a little crazy about food storage, but in 1974, President Ezra Taft Benson said "The revelation to store food may be as essential to our temporal salvation today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days of Noah!"

If you've never heard of Food Storage or thought about it, I know it seems like "the world is ending" mentality, but it's not that at all. We don't know what the future holds, being laid off from employment, natural disaster, has anyone else noticed how flour, and oil and milk have all doubled in price? Remember New Orleans? We don't know what the future holds, but I know you will be blessed!

Please take the time to download the video, you WON'T be sorry! Sister DeWitt is witty and clever and very educated! Plus, you will learn things like how to can candy & butter, who doesn't want to know that!?

This is AMAZING! If you haven't seen it! Download it, it will inspire you!

http://theideadoor.com/Preparedness/everything_under_the_sun.htm

If you can't download the movie, you need to download the book "Everything Under the Sun" by Wendi Dewitt, it's FREE and it is full of great ideas! She doesn't make money on it, it was her calling for 5 years and she gives it all away for free!

I....

2008-10-29T16:15:00.006-06:00

My friend Sarah had this on her Blog, and I thought it would be fun to post, since I don't have any pictures :(

I AM: voting for John McCain.
I MISS: being a kid.
I HEAR: the buzz of my computer.
I SMELL: no poop! yeah!
I CRAVE: chocolate, doesn't everyone?
I WORRY: too much about decisions I make (even the little ones).
I REGRET: not talking to people when I have the chance
I LOVE: my life.
I ALWAYS: put my kids to bed early.
I DANCE: badly.
I SING: in tune.
I CANT STAND: ignorance, you know people who give you a hard time about something they know nothing about!
I LOSE: or win, does not matter to me
I DO: check other peoples blogs a few times a week.
I LISTEN: most of the time.
I HATE: being cold.
I HOPE: that my kids will always be friends.
I WANT TO BE: a great mom!
I OBSESS: over food storage and organization.
I DREAM: of John being done with school!
I LIVE: in Boise.
I WILL: not admit the last movie I went to go see in the theater with John's younger sisters. That's all I'm going to say. Dena- don't you dare!
I WILL ALWAYS: try to learn from my mistakes.
I CAN USUALLY BE FOUND: up at night, sleeping during the day.
I NEED: to do laundry, and to figure out a way to never have to do it again.
I KNOW: I can do better.
I AM ALWAYS: trying to figure out what to make for dinner, which is not the same as making dinner, but I am always thinking about it!
I WISH: you could choose how fast the moments go by.
I CRY: When I look at my laundry.
I FELL: the last time I went Snowboarding.
I BELIEVE: I can do anything I want.
NICKNAME: Rach, um, Rach.
LOCATION: Boise
AGE: 26
HEIGHT: 5 ft 8 in
SHOE SIZE: 8 ½ to 9
PIERCINGS: two
HAIR COLOR: Brown
WEAKNESS/FEAR: Heights.
GOAL YOU'D LIKE TO ACHIEVE:
BEST PHYSICAL FEATURE: Um, I have no idea.
BEST MEMORY: I think the last trip we took to Disneyland, I never thought it would be so fun to go on rides with my kids! And it was really fun to be better at boogey boarding than John, the first time I hit a really good wave, I just smiled and waved!
PEPSI OR COKE? Neither – but if I have a headache, pepsi is my perfect cure.
MARRIED: Yes, to my best friend.

Hello World!

2008-10-29T15:48:00.004-06:00

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I have been a good blogger in the past, look at my track record, at least a few posts every month for a long time now! I mean really guys, two months, it's not that bad... is it?

Here's a preview of what's to come!

Well, Crystal ruined the surprise :) but, we went to Disneyland! And Southern California for 10 days with my parents!

Did I forget to mention that Paisli turned 1? Oh well I bet you won't feel as bad when you learn that she hasn't even gotten a single present for her birthday (from us, sorry mom I still haven't gone shopping with the money you sent either)- I don't know how or when I got so busy, but I am!

She got her first two teeth at 13 months! Weird, huh, she was old and gumming it! -probably don't want to know this, but since you've been wondering she also has had about 6 poopy diapers a day for the past 2 weeks! And most in the middle of the night! Apparantly teething and pooping go hand in hand for her!

Oh, and Did I forget to mention that my hard drive crashed with all my pictures from the last 3 years!!! So we probably won't be seeing much of that either... hm...

So long time no talkie, but I do love to blog, and I love all my three fans out there that check up with my blog! When people told me that kindergarten was the busiest year of their life, I never knew what they meant, but OH MY GOODNESS!!! I AM SO BUSY, and doing what? I don't know! Seriously- I don't even blog anymore, so I don't even have that excuse, John wouldn't believe except now he has his own blog and he knows what it's like to have all the pressure to produce a REALLY good post!

Seriously though, I keep meaning to blog, but I feel like I have nothing interesting to say, but now that I've told you all the highlights, I guess I do have some stories to share!

I guess what it boils down to is that I am not sleeping well, if it's not Paisli 2-3 times, it's Xanden and if it's not him, it's Berkli, and if it's none of them, it's John. And if it's not my family, then I'm staying up everynight watching Lost because it's really good and totally addicting and we got through all four seasons in two months. Okay? So maybe it's Lost, maybe it's the sleep, maybe it's school I don't know, but what I do know is that now I am out of time!

Sorry there are no pictures, but once again, no hard drive Okay?

I promise I'll post soon!
-don't you hate it when people write that and then two months later it's still there?

First Day of School!

2008-08-25T12:31:00.000-06:00

Berkli started school! She is adjusting pretty well. Her teacher is awesome and has even met a friend named Gracie. She was so excited and just didn't even want me to stick around!

After a few days, the homesickness started to spread. She fell off the monkey bars and she came home crying because I wasn't there. She also got lost on the playground and had a breakdown moment. Overall, her handwriting is really improving and she is writing her numbers correctly now too! She is learning sign language. She is super excited for me to come and help in the classroom, so I am looking forward to that! I just can't believe she's so old, but I am really proud of her. She comes home and we talk all about her day, she has a music teacher, and a PE teacher, she gets to have snack and play on the computers. She can name about half of the kids in her class from memory.

I think it's been hardest on Xanden, he misses her terrribly! About the third day, he put on his new spiderman costume and just sat on the floor and stared at the ceiling! But we did have a new little boy his same age move into the ward, and they are buddies!

Meanwhile, Paisli...

...is just fully into the bathroom, keep the lid and the door closed, and nobody gets hurt!

What does John do all day?

2008-08-25T09:01:00.000-06:00

Play. Play. Eat. Play.

A lot of people ask me what John does, or better yet what his degree is in. Well, that usually ends up in a big explanation using a lot of mumbo jumbo words, but I think you might enjoy this...

He is really into Motion Graphics, but personally he loves after effects, 3D animation, graphic design, photoshop, premiere, video production, directing, cinematography, writing, music editing & composition, and I'm sure I'm leaving stuff out...but he calls it motion graphics.

John is the Creative Director at DTX Creative in Boise, ID. Right now he has just finished the season opener for the Boise State Broncos Football Team. His role in this spot is simple, from concept to execution, it was done almost completely him. He did have a lot of help at the shoots because this was a big deal and there were a lot of players involved, I even got to help out in the weight room shots.

http://www.dtx.us.com/reviews/bsuopen/

here is his company website and once again, he has been the creative director of almost every project, and he does a lot of the production work (except the web stuff, way to go Stan!). I think we are gorssly underpaid :) He did the opening sequence and animation on that video too.

http://www.dtxcreative.com

Now you know...

COUSINS!

2008-08-24T20:00:00.000-06:00

They're almost 1! (well, Luke's already 1)
Brooke, Luke, Paisli & Sienna

I can't believe it's already been almost a year!

These four babies are growing up way too fast!

(um, see the header)

2008-08-24T19:31:00.000-06:00

Yeah! We took family pictures yesterday! I am so happy to have an updated picture! I guess we'll just have to deal with Paisli's inability to sit still :) More pics to come!

This is why we make up our kids names...

2008-08-24T12:48:00.000-06:00

This is how many Rachael Smith's there are...

HowManyOfMe.com

There are
583
people with my name in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

The kids all tied, Berkli Xanden & Paisli Smith's out there:

HowManyOfMe.com

There are
15
or fewer people with my name in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

Oh, and let's not forget John Smith, can't forget that one now, it's the least common of all!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are
50,364
people with my name in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

Any questions?

Berkli's a Witch!

2008-08-20T11:56:00.002-06:00

So my brother Josh is obsessed with board games. He's actually created one and is pitching it to publishers. It's about the Salem Witch Trials (another of his obsessions).

This is Berkli's card for the game, it's slightly creepy, but she's on a deck of cards!
She actually has a paper towel on her head :)

This actually happened, bizarre huh? Anyways, Good luck Josh!

I've been tagged...

2008-08-19T11:55:00.004-06:00

I've been tagged by Crystal. Who just had the cutest baby ever by the way!

How long have you been together? Together: we've been married for 6 years, and have know each other 6 months longer than that!

Who eats more? Well, I forget to eat a lot, but if it's sugary or dessert, then I eat more, if it's salty-greasy, then John

Who said I love you first? John, I don't really remember, but I know it just kinda felt natural to say it.

Who sings better? Um, well neither of us are great, but I've never had a teacher tell me that I shouldn't sing anymore! (Seriously, John had this really rude college professor when he was 16ish and she told him that he shouldn't sing, ever! How rude huh! And I've heard John and he's not tone-deaf or anything, he sounds good, he can carry a tune, I'm not sure what her intentions were!)

Who is smarter? I am pretty sure we both think we are pretty smart. But John's the one with the "degree" j/k he's way smarter than me at most things, but I kick his trash to the moon and back when it comes to Math.

Who does the laundry? Me! Well, I wash it and the kids put away their own clothes (it only takes an hour or so of constant "Put your clothes away!" with Xanden, Berkli used to be like that, but now she's a pro. I'm trying my patience

Who does the dishes? John, usually, especially because I avoid them all day so he usually helps out when he gets home!

Who pays the bills? John, thank goodness! I hated it, it was so stressful, now I get to enjoy it when John buys me things!

Who mows the lawn? John, although really neither of us do because have you seen our weed infested lawn!

Who cooks dinner? I do, but John comes in s close second. I'm one of those lucky women whose husband actually REALLY likes cooking :) I know, it's okay to be jealous, I would be too!

Who drives when you are together? John

Who is more stubborn? I think I am, John just goes with the flow, and I usually have an agenda.

Whose parents do you see the most? Well this is actually opposite of Crystals, Together we see mine more because they will come and stay for days at a time (go mom!) But I go and see John's family quite a bit while he's at work, at least once a week usually.

Who kissed who first? He kissed me first. I wouldn't kiss him back for a long time, but he got me while I was half asleep!

Who proposed? John, totally caught me off guard.

Who is more sensitive? John!

Who has more friends? Probably me, because John is just too busy for friends, and he's selfish :)

Who has more siblings? Lets see. I have 4 and John has 7...he wins!

Who wears the pants in the family? Um, Not Berkli! She wears dresses! Seriously, I'm so lucky John and I are usually on the same page, but when it comes to discilpine, unfortunately I'm the "bad cop".

I Tag: Dena, Tina, Jaimin, Courtney, Ash, and Lyndsay

Uppercase Living!

2008-08-18T16:27:00.003-06:00

Hello, I am sorry I haven't posted, but I just started a new business with a company called uppercase living!

We have hundreds of exclusive designs, everything we do is available in all 35 colors,
and we even do custom expressions!

This company is only 2 years old and most people haven't heard of it,
I have gotten so much interest in Boise
and I would love your help getting the word out everywhere!

http://rachaelsmith.uppercaseliving.net

I am so grateful to have found uppercase living! If you or anyone you know may be interested in more information, I would be more than happy to mail them a catalog!

Boy oh Boy!

2008-08-06T13:14:00.003-06:00

Son rings the door bell. Mom answers door to find her son with his pants around his ankles...

Son:"Mommy there's poop!"
Mom:"What?"
Son:"Mom, there's poop on me I need you to wipe it!"
Mom:"What!? Where?"
Son:"Mommy there's poop on my bum, I need you to get it off!"
Mom:"Why is there poop on your bum?"
Son:"Mommy get the poop off my bum!"

Mom: "Where did you get the poop?"
Son: "Mommy get the poop off my bum, it's yucky!"
Mom: "I know it's yucky, where is the poop, why is it on your bum!"
Son: "I went poop outside."
Mom: "What! Where?"
Son: "In the garbage."
Mom: "What!? Show me"

Son (with his pants still around his ankles) walks his mom over the the blue recycling bin that is sitting on its' side swarming with flies.

For Ashley

2008-08-04T11:00:00.002-06:00

So I have always been accident prone. I thought I would share some recent stories of the everyday abuse I put my body through.

Apparently I'm used to using dull knives, and I bought a really nice knife one day. Well since I'm used to my cheap steak knives that can bush my skin without doing any damage I guess I've gotten in the habit of not paying attention when I'm cutting. I've cut off the tip if my pointer finger at least three times in the last year. Just barely the tip, skin only. The last one was the worst, and I just have to say, and I can still remember how bad it hurt. I've been afraid of knives(sort of) ever since!

I was helping my mother in law, seal foil pouches for food storage, we were ironing and the next thing I knew I had rubbed my arm across the hot iron. Luckily it didn't ever hurt, but everyone keeps noticing the big burn on my arm. She felt really bad and didn't let me iron anymore.

I'm not really sure of any others, off the top of my head, but let's just say I have a big gash in my shin I don't remember how I got it, and the other day I was moving a box and some solid glass decoration fell of and I had the worst headache for the next day! It did not bruise, but it hurt!

Love ya Ash!

It's over, finally life can go on!

2008-08-04T10:05:00.009-06:00

I am so glad to be done. Not At All what I predicted, and I must say even more happened than I thought possible. All I can say without giving too much up is that I was completely blown away by the changes that happened, it all caught me by surprise, and I wasn't sure if I was going to happy or satisfied, I think I'm still in shock. I was impressed by how much the books all tied together in the end. Thank you Stephanie Meyer for actually finishing the book so that there are no loose ends.

Do NOT read unless you have read all four books, who knows you might want to read them someday, they are awesome! Spoiler Post HERE

New Heights

2008-07-22T08:20:00.000-06:00

Look at me! I love to stand up on my feet! Someday I'm going to be really strong and walk all around! I even crawled all the way up my Gramma's stairs the first time I tried! Good thing mom has Berkli & Xanden to worry about, because I'm an explorer , that and a fish!

Water Logged

2008-07-21T12:15:00.000-06:00

We found these pools sitting on top of someone's trash can. So, I turned my car around and grabbed them. Who am I to let good things go to waste?

The kids have enjoyed those more than anything else we've bought this summer. Go figure!

Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy

2008-07-20T08:03:00.000-06:00

It all started out with an innocent walk. My mom was visiting so we decided to go for a family walk last Sunday. It was really hot, but luckily I live in an older part of town, so there were a lot of trees for shade.

When we got back, we noticed the flowers were dying, (yes I killed my mother's day flowers, and every other plant we have tried to plant) I don't really know what happened but I just started spraying everyone with water! So the kids were upset & I was laughing and then it was their turn. We let the kids spray us with water and before you knew it, it was a full blown water fight!

Paisli just sat out and stayed dry, but I think of all my kids she might have liked it the most!

What's the occassion

2008-07-20T08:00:00.001-06:00

So years ago when I first started garage sale-ing (I'm pretty sure that's not a real phrase, because when you try to type it, nothing looks right). Anyways, I started shopping through peoples junk :) I bought some weird stuff. I used to buy things to save for years, like for instance this tux, that I bought when Berkli was a baby not even knowing if I would ever have a boy. It's a size 5. That I got for $5 that I've been storing for 4 years. Sometimes the numbers just don't add up, but he sure looks styling in it!

Photo Theif on the loose!

2008-07-04T08:25:00.001-06:00

We went camping with The "Smith-y" side over the forth of July!

John & I brought Jetta & Cami (John's older sister's kids) with us, and we went exploring.

Xanden sitting by me, just like me, as I learn to crochet a flower, thanks deen!

All of us, Which is pretty amazing considering Neenaw (John's Gramma) only had two sons who are 10 years apart! Good times!

Happy Birthday to me!

2008-07-02T20:13:00.001-06:00

So I turned 26 last year. So all year when people asked me how old I was, I told them 26. Then all of a sudden in April I realized I was only 25. So it was a relief to find out that I'm not getting any older this year!

John actually picked out clothes for me which was a nice surprise, and I even kept half of them (I only returned the things that didn't fit)! Way to go honey!

I know a boring post with no pictures, but seriously how often do you turn 26 twice?

First Pony!

2008-06-22T08:23:00.002-06:00

Paisli's hair is perfect, she got all this long hair on top, and then all around the sides is really short. It's so even it looks likes I've trimmed it. So, it's perfect for a pony tail, and she doesn't have a mullet! It's so fun to be able to do a pony tail this young!

They Brought The Whole Hurd

2008-06-21T08:10:00.001-06:00

Jennifer (Griffin) & Caleb Hurd stopped by on their way to Oregon.

(For those of you who don't know, Jen & I grew up together in Wyoming and Caleb & John grew up together in Oregon. More about that here.)

Paisli @ 9 months, & Carlie @ 5 months.
Paisli was not happy at all, but Carlie was all smiles!

We didn't plan to dress the girls all matchy, but it's so cute!

We tried to take a picture with all 6, but after many screaming babies, and antsy kids, we decided individuals would be better.

Xanden & Dallin, Age 3

Tanner & Berkli, age 5

Rules of Attraction

2008-06-19T23:02:00.005-06:00

Did you ever wonder if some people were just meant to be together?

This is my John's Baby Blanket. This may look like a laundry detergent commercial, the faded fabric next to the bright colored fabric, but the one on the right is actually my Baby Blanket.

My mom's Mom & John's Mom's Mom made us baby blankets, by hand, out of the exact same fabric. Weird huh? The only difference is his Gramma trimmed his in Navy Blue Fabric, and my Grandma put a ruffle on mine. When we were dating, I saw his blanket & I told him we had the exact same baby blanket, he totally didn't believe me. We made a special trip to Wyoming just to prove to him that it was the exact same fabric!

I love telling the story, and I'm glad I have a blog to share fun stuff like that :) Now our kids get to fight over who gets to sleep with mommy & daddy's blankets. I guess we were just meant to be :)

We Are a Happy Family

2008-06-19T14:38:00.008-06:00

Happy (late) Father's Day! To hands down, the best dad I know!

From 2 to 5, it's chaotic, but wouldn't do anything differently!
It's crazy, stressful, exhausting, exciting, and fun.
And, brings me more joy than I ever dreamed!

Paisli is crawling all over, and everything goes in her mouth.
She is already nine months! She is my earliest crawler,
my floors have never been vacuum and swept so much :)

Xanden & his cousin Stanlee, they are best buds!
Xanden got to go on the Father Son camp out with daddy.
He keeps asking to go back, apparently he had a good time :)
He used to be a momma's boy, but now, everytime
he prays-whether John is home or not-he says
"Thank you that daddy can come home."

Berkli starts kindergarten this fall, I'm FREAKING out!

She's getting fiercely independent and is getting "attitude"
(I didn't think it could get worse)
Now, If I try to do anything for her she always says,

"Mom I'm learning to do it myself. I know how to do things now."

She's home today!!!

2008-06-12T20:35:00.008-06:00

John's little sister Heather came home from fer mission today!

Hot stuff!!! It was SOOOOOO good to see her, we missed her a lot! :)
She served in the Florida Tallahassee Mission for 1 1/2 years.

We all wore matching disguise glasses.

If you don't know Heather, you would think "She's looks really pretty in that pink suit"
If you know Heather you would think "She's in Pink!!"

We're so excited for her to be home! We missed her a lot!
And watch out boys, she's available!
(This is not an advertisement for her, but isn't she cute?)

My favorite finds!

2008-06-12T07:49:00.002-06:00

First, I have LOVED BeKool Kids new product. Paisli has had two really bad fevers in the last month, and these have been amazing! My kids will never keep a wet washcloth on, but this doesn't even bother them. And the best part, it actually stays cold for 8+ hours. So they sleep at night, and you don't have to stress about their fever getting too hot. I paid $3 for four pads at Walmart, and it was well worth it! I went to go find more, and they were sold out, I want to keep a few boxes on hand because they were a lifesaver!

So, I LOVE Craigslist! I have scored some sweet deals over the last year, and I also have made some good money. It's WAY better than ebay or a garage sale, you get more money for your stuff, and if you want to buy something you can try it and see it first.

I think what got me hooked the most is that I always remind myself of what President Hinckley taught. That if you can only afford to buy something cheap, we should buy "Quality Used" instead. Something that is sturdy built, that may ahve a few dings, but will last. So I try to do that as much as I can, and it's really worked out.

The first thing I bought was our fridge. I looked for several weeks for a side by side fridge. The cheapest decent one I saw for was about 350, most were 7-800 and new, yikes! We got a way sweet deal on a stainless steel fridge, for only $400.

We also bought our Stove, dishwasher, and sink faucet, and our flat panel TV, oh and our Wii off Craigslist.

I've gotten a lot of stuff for the kids too, and most of it I was able to resell when we were done with it and not lose any money! LEt's just say I've bought too much to list!

Our favorite recent purchases:
On Tuesday I sent John on a wild goose chase for a vacuum. Ours has been broken for a few weeks, and after pulling it apart, we can't quite fix it. Which is frustrating because we bought it new for $150. And we bought one that was modeled after a Dyson, which is what we REALLY wanted. Well, I found a guy who was selling his vacuum he bought in January, I wondered whta was wrong with it, but apparently he is retiring and moving to Mexico. And guess what it was? A Dyson, for $95, that is practically brand new! Hooray!

That guy had some nice stuff. Our DVD player broke, so we've been using our X-Box to play DVDs. We've been wanting a surround sound system, but they are $200-$400+ This guy was selling sony surround sound system with a DVD player that he bought at costco a few months ago for $400, for $95! So we splurged and got that too!

Anyways, it's been fun to find some good deals! You should check it out!

I've also sold SO much stuff on there! I LOVE it! You should be careful, I never go alone to look at stuff, and if I get a weird feeling about a person, I'll meet them in a public place.

The good stuff

2008-06-12T07:20:00.005-06:00

Okay, I really need to write about what's been happening...

Quick Update: John has been enjoying being out of school, and we've been trying to get projects done around the house. He's been super busy with church callings, and so that's taken some getting used to, but he's been enjoying the service.

I feel like I'm writing our annual Christmas card, which I neglected to send this year, so hey this counts right? Although I'm not sure most of these things would make it on there...

Me: We'll I've been making products for wholesale :) I've also been trying to organize my house. I am an obsessive organizer. I'm also really picky about where stuff goes, how the laundry is folded, and oh yes, don't ever unload my dishwasher because everything has a home, and all my dishes really like the home that I picked out for them. They really don't like to visit each other's houses, it's just not that friendly of a neighborhood. (I get really over emotional, but I get frustrated when I can't find what I need and I have to open every drawer just to find it)

Laundry, Uugh.... I have a special way of folding towels, so just don't even go there. John insists on folding my kids clothes. Why? Why would you fold clothes that get sorted through at least 3 times a day? I have three drawers for each of my kids. The Pants/ Undies drawer, the Jammies/Socks drawer and the shirt drawer. While I'm sorting my laundry, I throw all their clothes into a laundry basket and then I go in their rooms and make them each a pile of their clothes in front of their dresser. Then Berkli & Xanden divide their clothes into the three piles and put their clothes in the drawer. It takes them a month or two of hard work to train them, but Berkli's been putting away her clothes on her own for over a year and a half, and Xanden is really close to ready (he likes me to "watch.") This week Xanden pointed out that he doesn't want me to take the clothes out of his drawer anymore. He thinks that it's unfair that I take the clothes out and he has to put them away.

I have also been trying to get projects done around the house. I'm in the process of "de-junking" and that is going well, I only have two rooms left. You might that's impressive, but the truth is I'm actually moving everything that doesn't have a home to our storage shed in the back. That way we can go through the shed and whatever doesn't fit, we'll have to get rid of. I like to get rid of clutter, but I have a hard time getting rid of things I might use someday. John however is really good at throwing everything away.

Berkli: Has been SUPER excited about starting kindergarten. Her eyes have started crossing again, so she is back to wearing the patch for two hours a day. They only cross when she look sat stuff up close, so they can't repair that with surgery. She is supposed to wear bifocals, but she hates them. I used to bribe her with computer time to wear the patch, but now she just says she's done on the computer. It's a hard battle, and it's hard for me to remember everyday. The doctor thinks that she'll outgrow it in a few years.

Xanden: We had a missionary discussion at our house a few weeks ago, and afterwards, the couple stayed and hung out for a while. We had tried to put our kids to bed, but they kept running out and "needing" things. Finally Xanden comes out and says his finger is dirty and stinky. Apparantly he hadn't washed his hands after using the restroom, and he loudly announced "it's poop!"

Paisli: Well she is crawling everywhere. She is also giving self-guided tours of our home. So far she has stumbled upon the bathroom, and even found the toilet. She also tends to disappear into the unknown and I have to search for her. The kids like to carry her into a random room and leave her there, then it's find the baby. She also has had two really bad fevers. Last night she got up to 103.8, and I think it finally went down. She's been eating good, and she doesn't have any teeth yet, so I'm pretty sure it's teeth.

Well that's what's been going on :) I'll keep posting to catch up!

I've been busy

2008-06-04T10:08:00.005-06:00

I haven't blogged forever, I actually get on here almost everyday (okay, so maybe several times a day is more accurate) to see what's new for everyone else, sometimes I just don't have it in me to post.

I feel like I've been playing "catch-up" now for months. My friends have all been talking about how busy I've been, and I can't really point my finger to why. But, I think I finally figured it out...
I have 3 kids!

Yep, it finally caught up with me. I was feeling like I could do things and accomplishing tasks, finishing projects, and then all of a sudden, BAM! nothing. Always late, always running around, always stressed.

Paisli was a great newborn, but now all I do is feed people, take care of "business" and try to clean my house that always looks like a stampede came through. Other than taht, life is good!

I was able this weekend to put together samples for something I've been trying to start doing for a long time... Let me know what you think!

www.simplyhandmadedecor.com

P.S. if you want anything, I have a friends & family discount for well, friends & family :)

Our little Frog

2008-05-11T20:32:00.005-06:00

The mobile baby had learned to adapt to her surroundings.

I kept setting her down and coming back to the room later
and she'd be in a different spot,
I haven't ever seen her crawl, but today she started doing this.
Paisli can't quite get her knees to move,
so she's figured out another way to get around...

This totally reminds me of the frog suit on Mario Brothers, it's hilarious.

Not sure how she learned to do that,
but I think all her exercise in her daddy jump up finally paid off!

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T08:52:00.004-06:00

I love Costco! They had flats of gorgeous Gerber Daisies (M y Fav!)

So that's what my sweet husband got me for mother's day!

I already have a lot of white daisies I planted last year,
so I wanted to brighten things up
Also, I apologize to whoever lives here after us, for the pink,
but they are SO bright, it makes me feel like summer is here!

I had a lot of fun planting them yesterday in front of my house.

Berkli helped and I LOVED it!

I think I may be getting into this garden thing!

These are my favs, the backside is a light celery green,
they're really pretty!

I've been blessed with a great mom!
She's my best friend and someone I admire,
I talk to her almost everyday and
I cherish the time we spend together.

I've also been blessed with a very kind mother in law,
who treats me as her own, and does so much for us,
I'm so lucky to have her as a friend too!

Hooray for moms!

Long Time, No Post...

2008-05-09T15:33:00.005-06:00

So I've been really busy lately. I've been so busy I don't even have time to tell you about it. Here is the laundry sitting on my bed, that isn't including the laundry in my washer, dryer and my white load sitting in my hamper. I never let it get like this, but man it'll take like 4 hours just to put it all away... Aren't you jealous?

On the plus side...
Recognize this?

Only three days left!

We're thrilled!
It really doesn't feel real, he still has to do a senior project,
but no more homework, tests, or classes.

I wonder when that will sink in...

Look what I got!

2008-04-25T15:55:00.002-06:00

Last night my sweet husband brought me flowers for no reason!

I used to think that flowers were stupid and a waste of money,
but I have to admit, I kinda like it!

Stimulus Tax Rebate Payment Schedule

2008-04-25T12:38:00.005-06:00

I know all the buzz has been about the stimulus tax payment, and hey, if anyone wants to give me extra free money, I'm going to be a little overexcited about it! Especially because I just learned that if you are set up for direct deposit, you'll get your payment really fast!

This is only valid for those who filed by April 15th! This is the year to file on time, if you didn't I bet you're feeling pretty sad! Here's the schedule:

DIRECT DEPOSIT

Last two SSN digits:	Payment will be transmitted by:
00 through 20	May 2
21 through 75	May 9
76 through 99	May 16

PAPER CHECK

Last two SSN digits:	Payments will be mailed by:
00 through 09	May 16
10 through 18	May 23
19 through 25	May 30
26 through 38	June 6
39 through 51	June 13
52 through 63	June 20
64 through 75	June 27
76 through 87	July 4
88 through 99	July 11

here's the official page I got this from http://www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=180250,00.html

Happy 4/20!

2008-04-20T11:00:00.003-06:00

I know I know, not even funny, but we did get married on 4/20, not for the typical reason, it just happened to be the only day that would work for us. And now it will forever be our anniversary!

6 years already! I can't believe it! It seems like it's gone by so fast other than the fact that we now have a five year old (not to mention 3 kids...)
Last night, John cooked me a killer dinner of Halibut and Roasted Asparagus, with Baby Reds cooked in Buttermilk, SO yummy! Thanks honey!

Aren't my pictures gorgeous? My friend Pam and her daughter Faith came all the way to San Diego to do my pictures! John was just commenting last night how we have the most unique pictures of anyone he knows. If I had my scanner I would share more, sorry!

Thinking back to this day, I was so nervous. We got married at 11 in the morning. My friend Jen came all the way to San Diego to do my hair, so we had a sleepover the night before. I don't remember much from that morning. John's family & my family decided to go to a session before the sealing, and that was a memorable experience. :)

I remember walking into the sealing room, and we had so much family there! I saw John and they had us kneel across the alter and tears immediately rolled down my cheeks. I think I cried the whole time. For the first time in my life I just knew at that moment, so strongly that this was exactly where I needed to be at that exact moment in time. I just remember looking into his eyes and feeling so peaceful, and so much love. We were holding hands and our hands were shaking, we were both crying. I was so excited for the journey ahead, and to know that our marriage was the most beautiful it could have been. My mom's dad is a temple sealer at the San Diego temple, and we were able to have him preform the ceremony. I don't remember anything that he said, just the way I felt. It was so simple, and so beautiful. I know that was the best decision I ever made!

After the ceremony, I remember walking out of the temple, and seeing all my cousins and friends. We had a wonderful reception at my Aunt's house. We then had a honeymoon in Oceanside, CA & we went to Disneyland. The most embarrassing moment was that John & I were staying about an hour away from my Aunt's house at a Trend west Resort his parents let us use their timeshare for our honeymoon. We didn't have our own rental car (biggest regret) so we had to ride in the back seat of his parent's car all the way to our hotel. I think that was the most awkward hour of my life. No wait, I can't decide if this was worse, because we didn't have a car, John & his dad went to go buy groceries, so I hung out in the room with his mom, and his grandparents. I can still remember their sweet smiling faces. I was mortified. What is it about being "newly married" and everyone knows what is about to happen that is so embarrassing? Everything! Especially because once you are married, "that" is no longer a big deal, and you have the same sweet smile on your face every time someone you know gets married.

Anyways, I just wanted to say how blessed I am to be married to my best friend! I feel so blessed and I love my life!

Will the real John Smith please stand up?

2008-04-18T14:56:00.007-06:00

John's Blessing Day- Three Generations
Gran (dad's dad), John's Dad, & Papa (mom's Dad)

I think Paisli looks a lot like John
She definitely got his blue eyes!

John's Mom & Him
The more I look at these pictures, I think it's true...
Paisli is his twin.

Jen & John
I am totally doing this when John graduates

All my kids do this look with their eyes when they cry

John in the wig {& dress...},
with his younger brother Stan & older sister Jen
No wonder Xanden loves dress up!

I see a lot of Berkli in him here.

Boys will be boys, cowboys!
Stan & John

John talks about this pig a lot.
He used to do 4H & he raised pigs & sheep.

I am so lucky to have such a good man for my husband.
I am grateful everyday to be married to my best friend!

This is what 28 looks like!

2008-04-16T10:05:00.005-06:00

I can't even believe that John is 28!

Berkli wanted these glasses for her daddy so bad!

Xanden wanted this for daddy,
guess who's spent all morning breaking it?

Happy Birthday John! I love you so much!
You're my best friend and I'm so glad to have you in my life!

Favorite Day of the Week

2008-04-15T08:56:00.000-06:00

Tuesdays are just naturally my favorite day of the week. Why, You might ask? Well John's sisters & mom & I started a meal co-op. When there are 5 of you, you really only end up cooking once or twice a week!

This week I made Lasagne.

Here we go...

Thanks for mom's yummy recipe, although I added spinach. Ew... gross, I know :)

Although I didn't read the instructions to layer I totally messed that up, I guess it's noodles, cheese, sauce (I think I did sauce, cheese noodles... oops!)

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.....

And this is what it looks like when you drop one on the floor...
I bet you can guess which one I got :)

And then there were 6...

2008-04-15T08:49:00.009-06:00

My friend Jen and I are are living the same life...

We married best friends who grew up together,
and we both got married 3 months apart.

April 2008
Paisli @ 6 1/2 months & Carlie @ 2 1/2 months

July 2005
Dallin @ 1 month, Xanden @ 3 months

June 2003
Berkli @ 4 months, Tanner, @ 2 months

"What's up?"

So not only did we marry best friends

who grew up together, but, here are our kids...

And then there were 6...
Tanner, almost 5, & Berkli, 5: 2 months & 1 day apart
Dallin, almost 3, & Xanden, 3: 2 months & 2 days apart
Carlie & Paisli: 4 months, 9 days apart

So Paisli decided to suck on her binky like this.
It was so funny!

How to start a Meal Co-op

2008-04-15T07:00:00.000-06:00

I think it works great with 3-5 families of about the same size. Each of our families has two adults and two small children, with the exception of our sister in law Dena, who only has two adults. We all have a baby under 1 year, but they don't really count yet :)

1. Find 3-5 families who all have similar eating habits or who aren't super picky.

1. We get together every three months and plan out 12 weeks worth of meals.

2. We have a rotation so that we don't overdo the same meats. There are 5 of us so we have 1 person do pork, 2 people do beef, and 2 people do chicken one night a week. So the schedule goes as follows:

Week 1:
Rachael- Chicken
Jen- Chicken
Mom- Pork
Dena- Beef
Whitney- Beef

Week 2: Just move the top to the bottom...
Rachael- Beef
Jen- Chicken
Mom- Chicken
Dena- Pork
Whitney- Beef

3. Pick a day of the week to prepare the meals, everyone cooks their meal on the same night, We trade on Wednesdays, so we all have our meals ready by 5pm on Wednesday and meet at one of the houses to trade dishes.

4. Your family eats your meal fresh that night and then you can either freeze or refrigerate the other meals.

5. You can request duplicates, some people have an ongoing rotation schedule of certain meals.

6. Our goal is to spend $20 a week, some spend more, some less. I think it really is best if everyone will agree to a budgeted amount and try to spend that amount.

Tip: We tend to have a lot of sduplicate meals all at once (One rotation we'll have Italian a lot, the next mexican) This can be hard on sopme families. You may want to sorting by theme instead of meats: I.e. Chicken & Beef are pretty easy (pot roast, chicken cassarole or chicken dinner) then you could add Italian, Chineese, Mexican, etc...

2008-04-14T09:13:00.000-06:00

Take the Quiz here!

Uh...

2008-04-05T10:31:00.003-06:00

Did anyone notice that Xanden is actually 3 and not 1? I titled me last post one year ago, it should say THREE years ago...

My mom came and we had an early cake for Xanden, and they caught me on video bringing the cake in with 2 candles. My mom & John stopped me and said, isn't he 3? Oops.. apparantly I really don't want him to grow up...