Tyler, Tyler, Tyler...

Well, my little Tyler is quite the 2 year old. Just like most 2 year olds, he can turn the house upside down in no time! He can make a just cleaned room a mess in under 3 seconds! I seriously feel like I have to follow him around all day just to clean up all the messes he makes! I go from one mess to the next... Well, I was folding laundry, thinking the other kids were watching him (that was a mistake! It always is, but somehow I think someday it won't be!!!). I realized he was not with the other kids in the backyard, so I called for him. No answer. I called again, still no answer. I started looking through the house, and I found him. He was sitting on the bathroom sink smearing 'lotion' all over his half naked body! The only problem is, it was not lotion... It was TOOTHPASTE!!!


At first I couldn't believe what he had done! I was irritated that I would have to, again, clean up another mess. But then I just laughed! It was so funny to see him sitting there with toothpaste all over his legs and arms. At first he would not look at me. He just kept looking in the mirror with his pouty/mad face. Eventually I got him to smile and laugh with me.


How do you get mad at that face?!?!?!! Oh Tyler, you keep me on my toes!

Just a quick laugh

David and I were out shopping for furniture today when the kids got home from school. After receiving multiple phone calls from them asking about after school snack, can they eat the brownies, etc. Michael calls and says "It is so hot! Can we swim?" I laugh and look at the thermometer in the car. I try to convince him it is not HOT, it is only 78 degrees. He insists it is hot and he 'sweated just walking from his room to the kitchen.' I suggest they open some windows, that doesn't satisfy them. David says 'just let them swim.' So I agree. We are on our way home and almost home at that. When we get home, they are by the pool, waterfall on, and Michael is holding Christina's towel for her so that as soon as she jumps in she can immediately jump out and into a dry towel. Which she did. Michael jumped in, swam to the other side and back, and immediately wrapped himself in a towel. Amanda insists she is in and that it is not cold (she is wet up to her knees). 10 minutes later Michael is complaining that something must be wrong with his feet because he can't feel them. I wonder why!?!?!? He ended up warming his feet in the tub with some warm water until he could feel them again.
If they thought it was HOT today, at 78 degrees, I wonder what summer will feel like!

Inspired

OK, so in my last post I mentioned that one of my goals was to become a healthier person. I also said that I would exercise. My friend Kristine runs marathons - she says half marathons, but hey, ANY marathon is a marathon to me!!! On one of her posts I had commented that I don't run - even when being chased. Well 2 weeks ago we were at church and started talking about running. I told her I would love to start running, but I just can't do it. Then she made the comment that inspired me to give it a try. In one short, quick sentence she said "when I started I could barely make it to the church around the corner from my house." I don't know if it was the competitive streak in me - that has been a little dormant the last 6 months - or something else, but I thought 'If she can do it, I can do it!' And now she runs marathons! Well, I am happy to report that I have been running for two weeks now! I couldn't run very far that first day - like maybe a tenth of a mile!!! But each day I have tried to run a little further. Even if it is just 2 or 3 sidewalk squares. My route is 2 1/2 miles and I run a little more than 1/2 mile of it. Usually I run in two increments and sometimes - if I am feeling really good - I will run three times. I can't believe how hard it is. Today she told me I could join them in a marathon! Ha ha... Let's just take this one day at a time!

I am enjoying my time alone, and I find that I am so much more patient with my kids when I take the time for myself. It clears my head and calms me down. It is weird. But, if I don't get out there and walk or run, I am less patient and more irritable. So I guess there are other benefits to becoming a healthier person!

So, thank you Kristine, for INSPIRING me to run!

Is it really 2009?!?!?!?

2009, that just sounds so... distant. Remember the whole Y2K Bug thing?? Was that really 9 years ago??? I only had 2 kids, and our Y2K bug was a sickness, nothing techie at all! Christina and I were both admitted to the hospital the day after Christmas and we all spent New Years huddled in our bed while applying cold compresses all over Michaels body to try to get his 104 temperature down. Wow, I can't believe that was 9 years ago! Well, I have heard so many people say "Let's hope 2009 is better than 2008." It seems to be a common feeling that many are happy to see 2008 go. I am curious what 2009 will bring. I am not big on making New Years Resolutions, although this year I may have a couple. Should I share them? If I do, will they not come to pass or... If I do will it force me to be more accountable? Well, I will share one or two.
First and foremost I want to RESOLVE this insurance thing that is hanging over my head! I am STILL compiling my list of items lost in the fire. I am at 23 pages and the list is still growing. I just received a list from the insurance company a few days ago and they have 715 items listed. (not sure where they got their list from, but I will be finding out soon) Unfortunately NONE of our furniture is on the list, so I am left to believe it is from the lists that were compiled back in CA through Custom Restoration (our friends that really helped us right after the fire). So, my first resolution is to get the insurance claim resolved. Then I can go shop for furniture! :)
Next, I want to be a more healthy person. I do not like to cook. I have no idea how to prepare a nutritionally balanced meal. So, I want to learn more about that and also try cooking. Wanna share any good recipes?? I NEED good recipes! (Oh, add that to the insurance list... all my recipe books) Yes, I did own quite a few recipe books, I just never used them. Along with learning to cook and eating healthier, I WILL exercise!!! You hear that world?? I WILL exercise!! I starting walking soon after we moved here, and then David started working nights and I sorta stopped. But, I have started again.
That is all I will share for now. I don't want to shoot too high and fall flat on my face. I am interested to see what 2009 has in store for me and my family. We made a lot of changes in 2008, major life changes, and we are very happy with those changes, so I am very excited to see what is in store for us. I can only end with... NO, I am NOT pregnant!

Monday already?

Wow, where did time go? It is already Monday, and Christmas is over. That can be a relief and a sad thing. We had a great Christmas. David's parents came in Christmas evening. Got here in time for dinner! :) We hadn't opened all the presents, so after dinner we finished. We saved the best for last! We had bought a Wii about 3 months ago and it sat in my closet until Christmas Eve when I wrapped it. I thought the kids had seen it for sure, as they have been known to 'play' in the closet and climb to the Halloween candy that was stored at the top of the closet. Well, it was the last present pulled from under the tree and we gave each kid a different box to open (one was the Wii, there were 2 games and an additional DDR mat) so each of them -except Tyler- got a box to open. We had them open them at the same time. Yeah, I think they liked it!
Then the day after Christmas we went to the Mesa Temple to see the lights and hear a quartet sing. It was absolutely beautiful. David's dad said even Temple Square didn't have as many lights! It was so cold, but we enjoyed the night.
Yesterday we made one of my favoite things at Christmas time. David's dad is from Norway, and many years ago I was introduced to a favorite Norweigan Christmas dessert. Now you all know how much I love dessert. This is one of my favorites. Whenever his parents come to visit at Christmas, I BEG his mom to make it. It is called Sandkake. (don't know if I spelled it right...) It is so yummy! So his mom surprised me with the tarts already made, we just had to fill them with the creamy goodness that makes them so good! We sat and ate them all! I only had 2, ok, I may have had 3, 4... I may have lost count! :) It was fun to carry on this tradition with his parents.
Tonight we played the DDR game on the Wii. I had to get my camera and take a picture of Grandma trying out the game.
What a good sport! We couldn't get Grandpa to try -he claimed he would make us all look bad... Maybe next time.
All in all, we had a great Christmas and have enjoyed, very much, having David's parents here with us to help celebrate this wonderful time of year.

Yikes!!

Ok, so we have been living here in Arizona for almost 5 months now, Wow, has it really been that long?!?!? Anyway, I have talked about being freaked out by the scorpions that are abundant here and how it really freaks me out. Well, we have managed to find 7 here at the house, 4 outside 3 inside. 5 have been dead and 2 alive, only 1 in the house was alive which my wonderful sister had the pleasure finding while I was in California closing our store. It has been a long time since we have seen one so we, mostly me, have gotten a little comfortable. Well, don't do that, because whenever you do... BAM!!! Today Michael went into the bathroom and yelled "Mom, um... come here." I was busy so I hollered back "can't right now..." to which he replied "Scorpion!" This, of course, sent all the kids RUNNING to see if he was kidding or serious. Oh no, he was NOT kidding. I have never seen a scorpion this big in my life!
I could not believe it! I grabbed my camera and had to take pictures. I also grabbed a tape measure because I had to know how long he was! He measured just over 3 inches and his tail was still curled a little! I threw a bobby pin next to him so you can see how big he is.
Then I decided to have a little fun with him. I poked him, tapped him, he ran and I poked him some more. The kids laughed, I was having a great time until he ran down the drain! Ugh... Can he run back up the drain? I turned on the piping hot water and let it run - thinking it would burn him. After a few minutes I turned it off and stepped on the drain cover to close it. Then it hits me... He could climb out of ANY drain in the house!!! David is laughing at me, Christina is crying and saying she hates living here and I am frozen with fear! I have closed all the drains in the bathrooms, then I realize there is another hole at the top of the sink he could get out of. Now what?? David just keeps laughing and telling me I should have just killed him. So, here I am, I don't want to go to bed because our bed is currently just a mattress on the floor (our rental furniture was taken away Wednesday and we are without a few things, so our mattress is just on the floor!) I am so freaked out I can't go to bed. I know I won't sleep! Too bad I don't have a couch to sleep on or I would. I told Michael I was going to sleep in his bed, he is the only one with a mattress off the floor. So, I guess at some point I will get use to these scorpions, Nah... who am I kidding, I don't think I ever will! They are just creepy!!
Just one question... Does anyone know, do they crawl on carpet? We have some shag carpet that is the EXACT color of the darn things. David and I have convinced ourselves that they don't crawl on the carpet because it is too 'hard' for them to get thru all the shag, not worth the effort in our opinion. We thought maybe they prefer tile or wood floors, or walls and baseboards? Is this true? Please say yes!!! I don't think I will ever get sleep if they like carpet!!!

Another Quick Trip - This time to Northern California!!

Last week I had the opportunity to go back to Nor Cal to visit some of my most favorite people that I miss terribly. I got a msg from an old employee about a month ago that all the employee's wanted to carry on the tradition of a Christmas Dinner and gift exchange, so they set a date and wished I could be there. A few weeks before that I received a free southwest ticket in the mail. So, I decided to fly in to surprise them. After they changed the date 2 times, I figured it best to let someone know I was coming so the date couldn't be changed again. I flew in on Tuesday, spent the day with my really good friend Jen - she was one of our managers and we became very close friends! We were asked almost daily if we were sisters. I really miss her and it was so good to spend so much time with her. She was off on Tuesday so we spent the entire day playing! We had lunch with Karma, it was so great seeing her. (hopefully she gets out this way in the spring to see her family, or just ME!) :) Shopped at Broadway Plaza then we went to dinner with some friends from church Tuesday night. It was soooo good to see them. I think we could have stayed in the restaurant chatting all night, but they were closed so we had to leave. :( I really miss those late nights scrappin' at the store! Miss you guys!! Spent the night at Alice's house. It was great to see them again, even if it has only been a few weeks since we saw them in So Cal. Wednesday Jen picked me up and we went to brunch with Audrey and Kari!
We laughed until our sides seriously ached! Jesus -the server or busboy, not sure- really enjoyed us being there! I think he was a little sweet on Jen and/or Kari! What a great time! Some shopping at Kim's store -our old store- and then it was back to Fairfield. Fell asleep on Alice's couch... really needed a nap, I guess! Then a quick visit with Tammy and off to surprise the employee's at dinner.
(Not the best picture, but I guess this is what you get when you ask someone to take a picture for you...) Come to find out they weren't really surprised because Terri told them I was coming. Only because they tried changing the date Tuesday night! Good thing someone knew I was coming or I would've been at the restaurant by myself! It was so fun to see everyone! We had a great time catching up and I just loved seeing them all again. Back to Alice's where we stayed up way too late chatting. Then it was off to the airport the next morning, after a very quick visit with Bev. It was such a fantastic trip. I had the BEST time and I really needed it! I had been a little mopey and really missing my friends back in CA. I have only ever moved away one time, and that was when I graduated high school and went to CA. I moved a few times while in CA, but was always in the Bay Area, close enough to all my friends. So it has been a little hard being away from friends and people I have grown to love. So it was good for me to go back and see them. I missed seeing a few people that I just couldn't hook up with, but there is always next time, and there WILL be a next time! :)