I Can't Resist

My mom loves to hear my brothers and I complain about our deprived childhood:) The truth is I wasn't really deprived even though life for the oldest 3 was a little different than the life of the youngest 3. I don't really know how the middle child feels, I should ask him sometime. Even with all the deprivation :) I think I had a great childhood and wouldn't want to swap places with my younger siblings. One luxury we never had was sugared cereal. We NEVER had it, ever. Except when we went to Grandma's house. Oh it was so thrilling to open the cupboards and see Cocoa Puffs, Lucky Charms, Cap'n Crunch, it was breakfast paradise! I have one vivid memory of staying with my grandma and going to Dan's to get groceries. She let me go down the cereal aisle and pick what ever I wanted. I couldn't have had a better treat in the whole world. Since I loved my Strawberry Shortcake Dolls and I loved strawberries, I remember finding Frankenberry cereal and falling in love. So every year when those Halloween cereals come out, I just can't resist, I buy one of each and present them to the kids, it is always so fun! And they all taste so good! Last week I had Booberry for dinner, it was awesome!

Big Plans

Every morning my husband is so good to kiss me goodbye. This morning was no different and it was followed by, "So do you have big plans today?"

"Yes, I do have big plans today. Have you seen the laundry room?"

:)

Dog Days

My son found this on a pink sheet of paper in our mail box-

Hey there,

Please keep your dog leashed or in backyard. Your dog need to shut up.

-Thank you!

Seems our dog has become quite the neighborhood nuisance. At first I thought maybe it was our deaf neighbors, but then I realized they couldn't hear my dog. Then I just felt bad. Sorry neighbors, we are trying our best! Anyone have a bark/shock collar we could borrow?

Love At Home

Yesterday was a good day. I ate lots of sugar cookies from smart cookie and had forgotten just how good those babies are. The box was recycled into a battle zone for the latest new toy, these little robot bugs from Target. I have not had my boys play together so well in a long, long time. I love these little critters! I wonder how long they will last. They arrived just in time for UEA weekend, if I am lucky, they will last the whole break! And I am still happy from all that sugar, there is love at our home and I am going to enjoy it while it lasts!

Saudades

Saudades is a word in portuguese that means missing, nostalgia; longing, yearning. I miss Brazil a lot and cried the day my plane left the ground because I worried I might not ever get back there and see so many people that I love. But today "suadades" is the best word I could think of to describe how I feel about London. Maybe it is because I got to visit London this time of year last year, maybe it is because I need a vacation, maybe it is because my husband has been traveling and frequent flyer miles are adding up in my head, maybe it is because I love London and I think it is my favorite destination to date, maybe it is because I so enjoy meeting my husband in a foreign country, maybe it is all of this stuff, but I do know I need to quit daydreaming, unless of course day dreaming will somehow get me there!

The King

Last night I had a meeting. The boys had football and Tyler was going to a friend's house. Everyone had left except Tyler. We were getting in the car and he says, "I know why you have so many meetings now. Cuz you got baptized and now you are the King of Relief Society." I started laughing and then he corrected himself. "Actually I mean the queen."

September Update

I keep thinking I need to take pictures of this or that and blog about this or that, but that just sounds like a lot of work and it is preventing me from blogging.  So I decided I would just sit down and write about a few of things that have been going on.  

First off, we are in the midst of football season.  Gone are the 5 days a week practice with games on Saturday, we are now down to 3 days a week with games on Saturday.  Unfortunately for me with boys on 2 different teams, we are there everyday anyways and it stinks!  David and Jacob are not on the same team.  At the end of try-outs, Jacob made the A2 team and David and Ethan are on another team.  Kirk and I were so excited for Jacob and now we just feel bad for him.  While David is the "star" of his team and he and Ethan are getting lots of opportunities, Jacob is on a rather boring team and is not getting a chance to do anything new.  His coach seems pretty great, but the rest are mostly just there to coach their sons.  It is such a contrast to go from one team to the other.  Last Saturday Kirk was at a scout thing so I was on my own.  Both of the games were here at 12:00 at opposite sides of the field.  I watched one, then left at halftime for the other both teams won and neither of the opponents even scored, but there was a HUGE difference in the games, one was fun, the other not so much.  Note to self, don't let your son be on an A team ever again.  

Since I went on a dream shopping vacation, my birthday was pretty low key.  My parents took me to Lion King and that was a lot of fun.  Kirk got me some massages (I told him not to get my anything because I had just been to New York, but he is just so thoughtful).  I went to lunch at the cheesecake factory with my little niece and my grandma, (we all share the same birthday) that has become a fun tradition.  And my boys got me tetris for the Wii.  I love tetris.  But one of the best birthday presents was a new driver's license.  Last time I got my picture taken was about 9 years ago.  I had let my license expire while I was pregnant with twins, bad mistake.  So for the past 9 or so years, my driver's license picture was me 6 months pregnant with twins.  While you couldn't see my belly in the picture, you could definitely see the puffiness in my face.  I am so happy to have a new one!!!

Earlier this month I bottled salsa with a friend.  I consider that pretty major for me.  I have never bottled anything in my life.  Together we had about 50 pints of salsa.  And it turned out pretty darn good.  We had good intentions to try spaghetti sauce next, but we still haven't gotten around to it.  

Slowly my house is getting put back together since we painted.  I have been very happy with the colors we used.  It has been fun to buy a few new things for the house.  I think my colors were so bold last time, I didn't need many decorations.  I like stumbling upon things for the house, but I hate shopping for decorations.  I think that is why I have gone without for so long.  We put up all the Halloween stuff this week and I sort of missed the orange.  It really was fun to have during Halloween time.  But I am excited for the Christmas decorations this year!

My mother in law stayed with us this week.  She was just here for a night, but it was fun to visit with her.  Her son, Kirk's older brother has a lot of challenges, they came up to visit with a doctor.  I can't imagine how hard it would be to have a son with challenges like that.  She is such a kind and loving person and I am sure that is why she got the job of being his mom.  I wish someone could do something to make it all better for her.

We are LOVING this fall weather.  If only we weren't at football every night we might be out enjoying it more.  Our yard has never been so neglected.  Oh well, there is always next year:)

New York in A LOT of Pictures

I have been so lucky to travel this past year or so, I really can't complain.  All of my trips have been absolutely amazing, but this last one had something the other didn't, girls (even better, my mom and sisters) to shop with.  And boy did we shop, it was awesome!  I arrived at the airport armed with chocolate and this is what I read as I ate the first one....

It was totally appropriate.  My husband would have hated this little shopping excursion, but I sure did miss him and was happy to be home after 5 nights away.

By the time we got to the city, Times Square was in full swing.  It is quite the sight to behold, at least once, but that was about enough for all of us.  

My husband loves Hershey's chocolate syrup, so I took this picture for him.  This bottle was actually a piggy bank.  I would have brought them home for my boys if they weren't so big.

After a good nights rest, we got up, took the subway, and headed out to Ground Zero.  There wasn't much to see, but in a year it will be good.  Right next to Ground Zero was Century 21 and we spent the rest of the day and almost all of my money shopping there.  It was awesome, I would go back to New York just to go shopping here.  We all found some amazing deals and had the best time in the Marc Jacobs section.  

Ground Zero

So excited to ride the subway!  Actually it was so HOT that the subway was always welcome relief because we could sit down and cool off.  I had no idea we were going to sweat so much!

After Century 21 we went to Canal Street where you buy cheap knock off stuff.  We had some pretty sweet adventure there like finding "Daisy" perfume, taken in secret doors to buy purses, sitting by Twisted Sister at lunch in Little Italy, and then barely making it back in time to see Wicked!

Wicked did not disappoint!  We all loved and enjoyed the show.

 

The next morning we went to the Swatch store to pick out watches.  It was one of the highlights of the trip for me.  I have such fond memories of Swatch watches and fell in love with them all over again.  And can I say they are the most comfortable watches in the world!

Later we were off to the US Open.  My mom and Kaitlin spent the day there.  MiKell and I had a few adventures back in the city.  

Frozen hot chocolate hit the spot!

Back at the US Open to sweat and watch Venus Williams and Rafeal Nadal (I don't even know how to spell that).  For all the nonsense we heard about cold weather and hurricanes, we nearly melted the first few days.

The next day was one of my favorites!  A good friend of mine had recommended some restaurants and so we decided to try one called Sarabeths.  It was on the 5th floor of Lord and Taylors and was perfect!  In fact I think it was a favorite for all of us.  The food, service, and atmosphere were incredible, I can't wait to go back here as well.  We spent the rest of the day shopping on 5th Avenue, it was a blast!

Later that night we went to another show called In the Heights.  It was a fun show that entertained us all.  

Sunday was a welcome day of sight seeing, we were all about shopped out.  

We went to church here.  It looks different than my building at home, but I assure you that inside it has the same decor and wall covering.  

Later that night we went up in the Empire State building and swore we would never do that again.

Earlier we went and saw the statue of Liberty and decided we did not need to do that again either.

You can see the excitement in our faces.  The process of getting out to Liberty island was too much for all of us.  

Brooklyn Bridge was fun.  We walked about 1/2 way across.

The next day was our last, we hit a few shops one last time and met for lunch in Rockefeller Square.  Did you know that the ice skating rink is a cafe in the summer?  

Then we had to go to the airport and come home.  It was an amazing trip.  I loved being with my family and having such a wonderful adventure!

Come Back!

Dear Kaitlin,

We miss you-A LOT.  Tyler did NOT want to go to Costco today.  He kept saying, "Can I please just stay home with Kaitlin?"  I had to explain to him that you were gone.  We are both sad.  I can't imagine how sad the other boys are going to be when they figure it out.  Can't you just live here and commute to school?  I'm serious.

Love,

Us.

Another Good Weekend

Kirk and I went camping this weekend.  I actually quite enjoy camping, minus dirt.  I have always hated dirt and dust.  I am sure dust makes me claustrophobic, my throat closes up and I just want to run away.  Growing up we did two kinds of camping, the Sand Dunes (in a campground with running water, bathrooms, and showers) and Lake Powell.  I loved them both!  There is nothing better than cards, Easter Eggs, seven layer dip, and four wheelers at the Coral Pink Sand Dunes.  That little camp ground holds some of the best memories for me and I am sure for most of my family as well.  I was always able to manage the camping because it could end with a long hot shower, it was no problem.  And the sand was beautiful!  The good thing about sand is that is doesn't cause a lot of dust either.  Lake Powell was the other place we used to camp.  After finally arriving there, we had to wait for my Dad to scout out the perfect beach.  Any old beach spot was never good enough, if he kept looking, he could always find one better.  He would scout out every possible option and then we would settle on the best spot.  Camping at Lake Powell was always more work because running water and bathrooms were not close by.  Now that I have my own family and have done my own Lake Powell trips, I marvel at the work and effort my parents had to put in to create such good times for us.  We always took 2 vehicles, sometimes a four wheeler, a pedal boat, and everything else you would need for camping.  Keep in mind they had 7 kids and we never went alone.  Lots of times I had a friend, families with boats and families without boats would join us as well.  My dad had built special equipment just to get everything loaded in the truck.  We always had the best time.  We got pulled behind the boat, fished, played in the sand, jumped off of cliffs, and explored.  You couldn't ask for a better vacation.  I hope my kids have such fond memories of their family vacations.  There were a few times we stayed in a hotel, but honestly, my better memories were the times we were camping.  Even as I type that I feel bad.  It is true and I don't know if I have it in me to camp with the whole family.  Their Lake Powell memories might all be hotel related, but I hope they are just as good.  

From our beach, just as the water started to get good.

Last weekend we went to Lake Powell sans children.  In an effort to recreate the good times, we camped with my brother and his wife.  The camping did not disappoint.  The scenery is amazing of course and so is the calmness and beauty of the lake.  We took the boat out in the evening and took advantage of the good water.  Then we stayed out in the moonlight and showered.  Going out each night to "lather up" is another of my favorite Lake Powell memories.  Afterwards we made our way back to the beach in the dark and started grilling our dinner.  Parker and Chelsey made the best chicken and steak kabobs ever!  I felt bad they brought so much food for only the 4 of us, and then we actually ate it all, it was so yummy!

The view from my tent when I got up.

By the time the sun started coming up, our air mattress was just about flat, and I was ready to get out of bed.  My brother takes amazing photos and I am still waiting for him to email some of the ones he took that morning, they are great, but until then, you will have to look at mine and imagine them as being better.  

Good morning lake!

You may remember me blogging about getting a boat and saying how I don't really care to be pulled behind the boat no matter what the apparatus is.  Well, I finally gave in and tried wake boarding.  And I actually liked it.  But then I couldn't do the surfing thing this time.  I don't understand how people are able to get good at water sports when they don't get to do them very much.  I will never appear athletic or capable at anything when I am behind a boat because I am not, but I do LOVE riding on the boat, swimming, and jumping off of little cliffs.  And I love Lake Powell.  We had a great time!

I only post pictures of myself and my big legs as proof that I actually did it.

Kirk is still a good surfer, I might not ever be a surfer.

Thanks to my little brother, Kirk got some great wake boarding tips and improved a lot this last trip.

All this writing about memories and good vacations got me thinking about an article that I read on a blog awhile back.  Here is a link if you are curious.  It is about how money can buy you happiness if you spend it right, like on vacations or experiences.  I find it to be very true!

A Little Sneak Peak

Aren't blogs great?  I took these pictures for my mom who doesn't live close enough to drop by and see the paint job going on at my house.  These were taken late at night, the lighting was terrible, and there are no decorations, but they kind of give you the general idea.  I can't wait to get everything put back together and make it look nice!

Recent Worries

Football try-outs have been going on this week.  It is very serious stuff.  Turns out, my boys love football so it is worth all the headache, but last night had me wondering about my parenting skills.  They have the boys "try-out" so that they can pretty much group them together according to skill.  The best team is called the "A" team and it goes on down from there.  The coaches carry around clip boards and take notes while the kids are timed, weighed, and put through all kinds of drills.  At the end of the week, they have a draft and the kids get a phone call from their coach and they are on a team!  Football is serious, but the "A" team is even more serious.  Since we are just average, we don't have to worry about the "A" team politics.  But the unexpected happened this year.  I got a phone call earlier this week from the "A" team coach.  He said they were looking at one of my boys and wondered what I thought if he played on that team.  I have 3 boys playing this year and they are all in the same division.  I was shocked.  I told him we did NOT want 3 separate teams, but we expected the boys might be on different teams this year.  So I said that should be fine.  Of course I didn't say anything to the boys, try-outs continued on.  Yesterday, they sort of pulled out the "A" team and had them with the coach doing their own thing.  My son was part of that group as were a lot of the boys he played with last year.  My other son was not a part of that group.  And he fell apart later than night.  I knew this would happen.  But I rationalized in my head that I shouldn't deprive the other of the opportunity.  Last night I really began to doubt myself.  I don't know what is best.  Is it worth the hurt it might inflict to one?  Again I rationalized that such is life, it is going to happen sometime, I can't always be there to intervene, but I wonder if I should have in this case.  My son hasn't made the "A" team just yet, so maybe it will work itself out.  And maybe I made a HUGE mistake.  I wish we could practice with fake kids before we got real ones, being a parent is hard, especially with twins.  

Change is Coming

A couple of years ago, I decided to paint my kitchen orange.  I didn't think much of it other than I loved the color and liked the way it looked with my cabinets.  I also picked out another color for the rest of the house.  My floor plan is very open and once you start with a color, it is hard to stop.  Afterwards I realized what bold colors I had chosen and how lucky I was that I liked the way they turned out.  The family room has needed paint for awhile now.  So I figured I might as well paint the rest.  So I picked out new colors.  Here's hoping I like the new as much as the old

.  

Family Lake Powell Trip 2010

This summer we took our little family to Lake Powell.  Ethan and the twins had been before, when they were babies, so it was pretty much the first time for all of them.  A couple of other families in our neighborhood joined us and we had a blast!  It was an awesome family vacation.  There were so many kids for all the kids to play with that I felt like I didn't even see or spend a lot of time with my own.  But everyone had the time of their lives and we can't wait to do it again next year!  

Ethan jumping off a cliff, he was my most hesitant little jumper, but he finally did it!

We had so much fun, we lost track of time and got a late start back to the marina the first night.  Kirk and I are new to this whole boating thing, by the time we got ready to load, it was dark, but we made it!  The sunsets were gorgeous!

Me on a surf board.  I am hoping to get better at this.  I was unsuccessful at staying up for very long.

Kirk is a much better surfer!

This was our first trip out on our boat by ourselves and we were so impressed with ourselves, we seemed to be doing great until Kirk accidentally ran over the rope.  Luckily we had lots of help and snorkel gear.  They guys were able to untangle the rope, but not without a few cuts!

This is the only picture of Tyler on the tube that I could find.  He always volunteered for the back seat where he would usually drop and dangle in the water.  Most of the time we couldn't even see him.  I guess he is ready for more "advanced" rides.

I don't know why Ethan was riding backwards?!?

No, those really aren't David's sunglasses!

Of course we had frozen punch bags, my favorite Lake Powell treat growing up!

Tyler's very favorite thing was cliff jumping, I think it was for all the boys, but especially Tyler.  He cried when we left because he wanted to jump off another cliff.  I couldn't believe how brave he was!

Jacob, David, and Kirk all jumping off together!

Seems like a dream, we can't wait to go again!