The Year is Ending...

So, I figured for my last post of the year I'd write a short bit of what has happened in our lives over the last year. Hope you enjoy!

We started out the year with Dennis looking forward to another semester in school and Sarah being pregnant with our second child. Grandma Hover was visiting a lot to help out since Sarah has tough pregnancies and Dennis was so busy with school.

The beginning of the year just flew by soooo fast. It's hard to remember really what was going on near the beginning, Sarah started this blog in February and it's been good at keeping her busy, she sure loves to play on the computer!!! She has lots of friends online that she cares for deeply and enjoys keeping in touch with. She also discovered facebook this year and enjoys staying in contact with people that way. She was also pretty active in the Spring doing water aerobics with a friend who was due the same day as her.

Then Danielle was born on May 12th, and what a cutie she is. She has been such a good baby and just a joy in our lives. The newborn stage is so fun. Now she is seven months old and crawling! How quickly the time flies. She absolutely adores her older sister and can't get enough of her. But she is as much a Mommy's girl as Charity is a daddy's girl! Daddy's thrilled, he wasn't sure what he'd be able to do with two daddy's girls! lol. Some of our favorite moments throughout the year have been when Charity would get Danielle giggling and the two girls would just be sitting there staring at each other giggling away. Charity turned two in May and hit the terrible two's hard :) She has her terrible moments but she also has those wonderful moments where she does or says the cutest things. She is such a pretty girl and knows it :) She'll give you one of her great big grins and your heart just melts. I've gotta admit I've got two of the cutest girls.

Dennis' semester in the fall had him worried but he ended up passing it with an A- so we were thrilled with that! He finds school to be very time consuming and can't wait until it is over when he can spend more time with his family but knows (or at least hopes) it will be worth it in the end!

For a few months in the middle of the year we had Dennis' dad move in with us and then he moved back to Delta to live with Dennis' sister to help take care of her during her pregnancy but now he is back and both girls just love having grandpa around. Charity likes to go outside and play several times a day while Danielle always has a smile for him. They love their grandparents sooo much. We enjoy having him here. He's a great help around the house and loves to play with the kids.

In July the ward boundaries for our stake was redefined and we were put into a new ward. And when I say new ward, I mean brand new ward so we were there at the beginning. What a fun adventure that has turned out to be! Sarah got a calling to be the co-leader for the enrichment committee and Dennis was called to be on the Activities Committee. That was a big change for both of us but we are enjoying it!

Dennis went on his first business trip this year (of course he's hoping it's his last, he hates to travel). He went to California. Sarah would love to go with him if he goes on any more trips but plane tickets will probably always be too expensive! Maybe we'll have to set him up with something to get miles or something so she'll be able to go some day. lol.

Christmas we went to Delta and what a snowy ride that turned out to be! There were some complete white out conditions several times due to snow, fog and wind! But the girl's had a good time. They always love to go places and see people (even if they don't seem like it in the beginning because they are so shy). Danielle has hit the stranger anxiety stage a bit early so that made it fun for pictures with Santa! lol, but Charity wouldn't go near him either so, oh well. Maybe someday we'll get pictures of our kids with Santa.

We are so grateful for the many blessings that we have recieved this year and for the opportunities that we've been given. It has enriched our lives and made us realize just how much we love each other.

Christmas Pictures

Here are the girl's Christmas pictures that I took this year. Aren't they two of the cutest girls ever?

Merry Christmas!!!

I know it's a day late but I never had a chance to get online yesterday so, Merry Christmas! How did our Christmas go?

We had fun in the morning opening presents although poor Charity got all presented out and didn't think presents were all that fun when the first three we had her open were wallpaper decoration things. She loves her presents though, although I think she might love Danielle's more. She's having a hard time still with the fact that it's not hers. lol. Having a sibling may be very good for her.

Oh, but Santa leaves the presents sitting out at our house and Charity just LOVED her doll house, so did Danielle. lol. But Danielle also really liked her stuff, as did Charity :) Santa also leaves our stockings full for Christmas and those were really fun. Daddy got a nifty little digital picture keychain thing. I've still got to get some of the Christmas photos loaded on for him. Which reminds me I'll do another post after thsi oen with their Christmas pictures. We got some good ones!

Anyway, so after we opened presents we had breakfast (omelettes, hasbrowns and bacon) then headed to Delta. What a drive that turned out to be! It took us quite a bit longer than normal to get there because of the weather. In several spots we had white out conditions and had an extremely hard time figuring out where the road was!!! But we arrived safe and luckily the drive home wasn't too bad. Then it was running around from one relative's house to another. The girls got even more toys that they love. It's hard to tell a favorite, I think they love them all!

And then we came home this afternoon. Oh, I got a couple of video games and Dennis got a couple of video games so we're going to be pretty busy while he's off work and before school starts playing games :) Definitely looking forward to it. Have you heard of the Harvest Moon series? He got me the new one for the Wii!!! And then Mindy gave him her old gamecube, games and controllers so I'll be able to play the one for the gamecube that we have as well. Ahh, the fun life of a gamer.

I hope everyone's Christmas' went well. Let us know how your's was!

It's Christmas Eve!!!

Yay!!! Today is Christmas Eve!!!

I don't think Charity really understands what that means, lol. She just doesn't want Santa to come any where near the house, but she does want to go visit him at the store, lol. I told her Santa was too busy getting ready to deliver presents that he's not at the store today to go see. Her presents from her cousin arrived in the mail today. (thanks Aurora!) and I'm surprised she hasn't been trying to open them yet, ofcourse I didn't mention to her that they were FOR her. Ever since I let her open a present from a friend earlier this week she has been ALL OVER the presents. We've already had to rewrap a present to a friend of hers. Oops, still gotta take her to go drop that off today.

Tonight after Dennis gets off work we are going to have a special Christmas Eve dinner, do some sort of special chrismtas eve activity (including opening a present, yay!) and then we're going to drive around and look at christmas lights. I think it will be fun although I'm not sure about how the lights will work since everyone won't fit into one car so we'll see about those. But I think it will be a good night. Oh which reminds me, I've got to go turn the christmas music on. And we're starting to cook for dinner. It's nice I have FIL here who will mess with the turkey for me :)

One more day 'til Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What happens when you let your two year old get away with Stuff?

You get stuck staying up late by yourself with both your kids with an over tired child who refuses to sleep! It's going to be a long night. Teach me to try to be nice! She does not like to sleep and we wanted to play The Farming Game tonight so I let her lay on the couch and watch a movie while we played instead of fighting with her about going to bed. I should have fought with her and made her go to bed. Oh well, tomorrow will eventually bring another day, and I've learned a very valuable lesson.

I had a good long chat today this afternoon with Charity about Christmas and how it's important to give gifts and then we wrapped the presents she got for her friends. It was a lot of fun. We took one of them tonight and we'll finish delivering the rest tomorrow. It was cute to see her so excited to be giving the presents though...

Well, it's time...

to put up the baby gates! Danielle is now crawling!!! She started crawling Wednesday night! WOW WOW WOW!!! My baby is getting too big. We knew she was close but I still don't think I'm ready for it yet. Charity is having a bit of a hard time dealing with her sister now being able to get whatever toy she wants. But it hasn't been too bad.

Another new development is that this week Charity figured out she can open the fridge herself. She's only done it the one time but I'm just waiting for her to start opening it all the time now. Crazy new times we're entering into here!

Less than a week until Christmas! Yay! Yay! Yay!

Oops... Busy, Busy, Busy

Sorry I never got around to posting an update last week. I got sidetracked by kiddos. You know how busy the little people can make you :)

Ok, so It's definitely been a while since I posted. I haven't even gotten on the computer for several days. Dennis' class ended last week so that should hopefully help things slow down for a few weeks around here. Other than that I spent two weeks reading a series of books about the Noble Dead :) I borrowed them from my brother after Thanksgiving and they were pretty good. Though long and there were 7 of them! Definitely going to have to get past this reading kick, lol. I've got to get back to important things like posting on my blog, blog stalking, oh yeah and cleaning the house and such :) lol.

We've also been getting ready for Grandpa to move back in with us. Mindy had her baby, a beautiful little boy, and she's going to move in for a few weeks while she saves up some money and gets her own apartment. I don't know what Grandpa is planning. I'm not even sure he actually wants to move back in with us, just since Mindy is moving he's decided to.

I made Danielle's first christmas foot print and hand print ornaments this last week. Very cute :) Charity insisted on making some for her too but I think her's are too heavy to hang on the tree so I might let her keep them as souvenirs. She definitely had fun painting them though. And then tried to help me paint Danielle's!

Then we've got another big enrichment activity coming up in a month so I'm going to be a bit busy working on that but it is going to be a lot of fun! Well, that's all for now, I hope everyone is looking forward to Christmas, it really is a special time of year!

I'm Thankful...

I know I should have finished and posted this days ago but I've been a bit busy, I'll post an update when I'm done with this :) Here's my list of things I'm Thankful for that I compiled throughout November!

1. A healthy family
2. Happy children, it's so wonderful to have children who are so full of smiles and giggles!
3. The ability to help out family members when they need it
4. A nice comfortable home to live in
5. My testimony of the true and living prophet on the earth today.
6. A fun imagination
7. The ability to use said imagination and to play with my children.
8. The law of tithing and the security it brings into my life.
9. Good books
10. A wonderful husband who loves me
11. The zoo
12. Fun activities
13. Yoga/Pilates and exercising, though I don't do it nearly as much as I should!
14. The great friends that I have, IRL and on the internet
15. The internet!
16. My cell phone, it's my link to those who live far away from me.
17. The Holiday Season. I just love this time of year.
18. Family who can babysit :)
19. Good food, eating lots and lots on Thanksgiving
20. Music, I like noise during the day and there is nothing better to have as noise than some good music
21. New Movies, the old ones are great but it's always fun to see something new.
22. reliable car. it's nice to be able to travel to visit family and not have to worry if the car can make it
23. christmas decorations. I'm just holding off until the weekend after Thanksgiving to put up the tree!
24. Rain, ok, I hate driving in it, but living in a desert I know we need as much precipitation as we can get
25. Cartoons. I know this is terrible but there are some shows Charity really likes and I'm glad they're available to watch
26. New babies, it helps me appreciate how far mine have come but also remember how wonderful those newborn days are
27. Snow, though I really don't like it's fun to see Charity get so excited about it!
28. Christmas Tree Lights :)
30. This school semester to be almost over!
31. A steady paycheck, and not having to worry about where the next pay check is coming from

Been a While...

So I did end up going to see Twilight last Friday... twice. lol. my friend just couldn't wait so she went and got us tickets to the friday morning showing as well. LOL. It was a pretty good movie. Of course things were changed some from the book, but I think it stuck to the spirit of the book pretty well. A few of the changes were a bit disappointing, especially the first time I watched the movie but I must say the second time watching it it was better cuz I just sat back and enjoyed the movie instead of critiquing it. lol.

We're now getting ready for Thanksgiving. We're headed up to my parent's house today and then we'll celebrate. We're considering going to Black Friday this year. I've never been before but I actually saw some things advertised this year that would be good. So, we'll see... Of course I could see myself spending too much money on "good deals" too so who knows.

Then we are headed home Saturday morning. Grandpa and Mindy will be moving some stuff in this weekend. Oh yeah, they are moving in with us for atleast a little while. Mindy just had her baby and she's going to look for a job around here so that will be good for her.

I'm going to try to convince Dennis that we need to go see Twilight on Saturday while we've got babysitters :) but who knows if I'll be able to talk him into it, he thinks since I've seen it twice he can wait until it comes out on DVD but I want to see it again, with him!

Well, I have a 2 year old that is having fun throwing fits right now (she was just hanging on my arm and it hurt of course so I made her get down and it didn't make her very happy) and of course she's crying so her sister is crying too. Well, a little rought housing fixed that. Nothing like picking on Charity to make her happy, lol. Here's to it hopefully being a good day!

Just so everyone isn't confused

I am no longer going to the midnight showing of twilight :( It turns out that we didn't have tickets but passes to get free tickets and of course, the theatres are sold out, but we got tickets for friday night so at least it won't be that long of a wait! A bit disappointed but oh well. Which reminds me, I still need to call my friend and update her on the tickets we got... better get on that!

Christmas Shopping

Amazingly, we are just about DONE with out christmas shopping! Normally, we haven't even started yet so this is pretty cool. Except that now i want to put up the tree and decorate for Christmas :)

Saturday we went into Salt Lake to do some Christmas shopping. The main thing we picked up I'm not allowed to talk about since it's for Christmas, but we also went to Toys "R" Us. I've never been there before, but WOW is that store FUN! They have all kinds of displays set up the kids can play with. We were there for around 2 1/2 hours and I think we only made it through 1/3 of the store! We were done at that point, or else we would have been there all day long, lol. They need an eating place like IKEA! But yeah, we still need to take Charity shopping for her to pick out presents for Dennis, Danielle and I and then a few more for family members and that's it. It's so nice to be just about done :)

Our marriage class that we've been going to is almost done as well, that will be nice when it's finished. It'll free up some time on Sundays. We've really enjoyed going to it but it's just eaten up the whole evenings since Church gets out at 4:30 and it starts at 5. Oh yeah, and we'll get a certificate when we're done :) Lol, I think I'm gonna put it in our anniversary book!

We love free stuff

Oprah, combined with snapfish is giving away free photo albums, except you pay for hsipping. Go here for details. It's only good until friday. I might just have to get in gear and go make one!

Update of all sorts

So, it's been a few days and what an eventful few days it has been!

Ok, first off (the good stuff)!!!! My friend Tiffany is the best EVER! She got us free tickets to the midnight showing of Twilight!!! (the girl's got connections!) So, her, Jennifer and I are going to get to go!!! I am so beyond excited!!! Yay! Yay! Yay!

Hmm, next, well Charity tried to scare me half to death yesterday. All 3 of us girls were in my room on the bed. Charity and Danielle were just playing while I was reading a book when all of a sudden Charity starts making gagging noises. Well, it seemed like forever but I'm sure it was only a few minutes when we finally got the quarter out of her. She's been into putting money in her mouth lately and I always make her take it out but I obviously wasn't paying enough attention cuz I had some quarters on my dresser. :( I don't think she intentionally tried to swallow it but was just sucking on it while eating some candy and down it went. She was able to make noise the whole time so I wasn't freaking out TOO much (if there is such a thing!). But we had a nice long talk afterwards about not putting things in our mouths, especially money and quarters. I just hoped she's learned her lesson so it doesn't EVER happen again... We'll see how long it takes Danielle to try that trick. *sigh* kids.

hy
, eft n y7hn mb 7yy7h8hnmnmiknmhy7j b hjnmnhnm t n k., b m 7huyh nyb jm ., nn k,ly v vc g.

Interpretation:
Hi from Danielle
Look I'm typing on the keyboard like mommy. Just like mommy I'm writing a message to all of you. Oh, look, i like the space key. Isn't it fun to push buttons? Oh, I just love playing with the keyboard. Hmm, which one should i push next. Ok, ALL of them! Yay! This is fun! Mommy is going to make me stop soon so bye I'll try to play again later!!!

Oh and Danielle ate a Ritz cracker last night! She's sneaky. We were playing Candy Land for Family Home Evening. Well, I had Danielle in the walker so she could play around us while we were playing. For our snack, I'd made us a cracker and cheese platter. I'd made sure to set it out of her reach cuz I didn't want her getting into them but Charity left one on the table! lol, and before we knew it Danielle was holding the cracker nibbling on it. She was making the funniest faces though she kept at it. Didn't even eat half the cracker before losing interest but it's got me excited to be starting her on food this weekend. I think I'm going to start with Peaches first but Dennis isn't sure about it cuz he thinks they might be too slippery. We shall see. (I'm saving sweet potatoes for thanksgiving :)

I'm getting excited for Christmas, I think we've got most of Charity's and Danielle's presents so that's really cool. I don't think I've EVER started Christmas shopping this early. Oh, and I got Laura something she will LOVE. (you can try to guess gamela, but I'm not telling!)

I've waited too long...

to try and get twilight tickets!!! Ahhh :( There aren't any left. Two friends and I just decided we wanted to go and it's too late... unless we want seats in the front row which, let's face it, just aren't worth it. So, it looks like I am going to have to wait at least until that next morning to get to see Twilight :( I'm bummed. Well, maybe I can figure out a way Dennis and I can go friday morning and then maybe my friends and I can go Saturday night or something. there aren't really any available friday night either :( Ahhh, the disappointments of procrastination!

Well, Obama has won.

And while I don't agree with him on a lot of the issues and I didn't vote for him. (of course I knew my choice wouldn't win, there just isn't a movement big enough yet to elect a president that's not a republican or a democrat) But, it is still nice that the craziness is over and we can get to the big task of uniting our country. Obama's speech was an inspiring speech, some of it aimed at that point. Well, I guess we'll see where the next 4 years take us...

So proud of myself

For the first time ever, I voted! I know, it's bad that I HAVEN'T voted before now but I finally went and did it! I am just so proud of myself. It was an adventure though. I thought I was registered to vote because I marked yes on that check box when I renewed my driver's license after we moved into the house but apparently it didn't go through or something so I had to do a provisional ballot and fill out the paper one instead of getting to use the machines :( But next time! lol.

The cute thing was that Charity on the way there talked about wanting to vote and she got an "I voted" sticker too. (She's quite proud of herself) On the way home I talked to her about tonight we'll see who wins the election and that we'll have a new President and she started getting all excited and told me she wants her present. lol, not quite what I meant but still a cute interpretation :) I know it won't be the "present" I voted for since I didn't vote democratic or republican but I still can't wait to see who win.

Oh, and for anyone that is wondering I voted Baldwin. He's with the constitution party and while I didn't agree with him on everything he's the one that was closest to what I believe in so... there ya have it. There were more issues to look at than just who was running for president and don't worry, I voted on those too. I'm still just so proud of myself for finally getting out and doing it!

All About the Issues

I know this is last minute and a little late for some but I'm still undecided and decided to compile a list of everyone and their stance on the issues to compare side by side. I figured I'd share, so here you go! I should have done this weeks ago!

It was really hard to find any specific issues addressed on McKinney's site so here's a link to the manifesto that is posted.

I hope this helps any of you out there who are still trying to decide! Here's a link that might also be handy to look through.

Marriage:
Barr/Root - States should be free to decide. more here
Nader/Gonzalez - couldn't find a statement
Baldwin/Castle - couldn't find a statment
Obama/Biden - couldn't find a statment
McCain/Palin - believes marriage is between one man and one woman but wants to leave any sort of legislation to the state level. see more here

Sactity of Life
Barr/Root - couldn't find any statement
Nader/Gonzalez - couldn't find any statement
Baldwin/Castle - wants to enact Dr. Ron Paul's sanctit of life act sets forth that every unborn child is a person under the constitution. see more here
Obama/Biden - supports roe v. wade, more on women's rights
McCain/Palin - wants to overturn Roe v. Wade and return the choice to the states, wants to promote adoption, see more here

Education & Homeschooling
Barr/Root - shift control from government to parents. more information
Nader/Gonzalez - believes there is an over emphasis on standardized testing. click here for more information
Baldwin/Castle - wants control of education returned to states, communities and parents. click here for more information
Obama/Biden - wants to reform no child left behind; wants voluntary, universal pre-school because wants to focus on education at younger levels; couldn't find a statement about homeschooling. more...
McCain/Palin - believes parents should have choices in which schools their children attend, more here, one more link I like about his plans for education

Health care
Barr/Root - encourage privitization. see more
Nader/Gonzalez - supports a single-payer health care plan. for more info
Baldwin/Castle - doctors and healt organizations need to answer to the people. for more information
Obama/Biden - reforms to the insurance system in America through regulation. see more
McCain/Palin - value of employer provided insurance shows up as additional income for employees but plans for a $5000 tax credit that off sets that and leaves consumer with more money, see more here

Social Security
Barr/Root - encourage privitization. click here for more info about this and other entitlement programs
Nader/Gonzalez - couldn't find a statement
Baldwin/Castle - couldn't find a statement
Obama/Biden - do not want to raise retirment age, against privitization, more about senior and social security
McCain/Palin - couldn't easily find a statement

Energy
Barr/Root - develop natural resources, for more info
Nader/Gonzalez - wants to focus on wind and solar power more here
Baldwin/Castle - couldn't find a statement
Obama/Biden - hybrid cars, 10% from renewable energy by 2012 more here
McCain/Palin - domestic oil, putting money into forms of renewable energy including nuclear, see more

Privacy and Security
Barr/Root - defend free societ and limit goverment scrutiny and access to people's. privacy. more info
Nader/Gonzalez - supports restoration of civil liberties and the repeal of the Patriot Act. more info
Baldwin/Castle - oppose any legislation or executive order that imposes on people's right set out by the 4th and 5th amendment. click here for more info
Obama/Biden - wants to strenghten the privacy and civil liberties board. for more info
McCain/Palin - couldn't find any specific statements to this

Iraq War
Barr/Root - withdrawal without undue delay. more info
Nader/Gonzalez - rapid withdrawal of troops from Iraq, targeted withdrawal of 6 months. more info
Baldwin/Castle - wants to begin the process of safely extracting our troops from Iraq. more info
Obama/Biden - redeploy combat brigades from Iraq within 16 months (summer of 2010), a residual force will remain to conduct target anti-terrorism missions and protect American diplomatic and civilian personnel. more info
McCain/Palin - leading advocate of the “surge” and the counterinsurgency strategy carried out by General David Petraeus. more info

Taxes
Barr/Root - reduce taxes, reform tax code, fairer and simpler, flat income tax. more info
Nader/Gonzalez - Fair Tax Where the Wealthiest and Corporations Pay their Share; Tax Wealth More than Work; Tax Activities We Dislike More than Necessities. more info
Baldwin/Castle - couldn't find a statment
Obama/Biden - middle class families will see their taxes cut, families making below $250,000 will see no tax increase, no family will pay higher tax rates than they would have in the 90s; more info
McCain/Palin - wants to keep tax rates low. more info

Border Security and Immigration
Barr/Root - borders never fully open, never fully closed; eliminate benefits for illegal immigrants, more than location of birth to determine citizenship. more info
Nader/Gonzalez - raise purchase power to level of 1968, enforce laws against employers, more info
Baldwin/Castle - secure borders, prosecute those who hire illegals, and cut off money supply to illegal. more info
Obama/Biden - make our borders secure, crack down on those who hire illegal immigrants, allow those already here in good standing to pay a fine and apply for citizenship. more info
McCain/Palin - secure our borders, set up program for undocumented to resolve their status, more info

Second Ammendment/Gun Control
Barr/Root - Government should not limit or regulate gun ownership. more info
Nader/Gonzalez - couldn't find a statement
Baldwin/Castle - uphold right of citizens to keep and bear arms. more info
Obama/Biden - couldn't find a statement
McCain/Palin - the right to bear arms is a fundamental right we have a duty to protect. more info

Foreign Policy
Barr/Root - America should not be world's policeman, bring troops home, "American foreign policy should emphasize swift, decisive and winning action against those who vowed would harm us. This means defense, not foreign intervention." more info
Nader/Gonzalez - doesn't say anything specific but talks about israel, tibet, and middle east. more info
Baldwin/Castle - close borders, quite meddling in other countries, wants to preserve an independant free nation. more info
Obama/Biden - willing to meet and talk to the leaders of any nation, increase diplomatic presence. more info
McCain/Palin - couldn't find any specific statements

Halloween

So, I don't have the pics yet on my computer but I just wanted to write a little bit about Halloween tonight. It was a lot of fun. Charity was a horse, Danielle was a dalmation puppy and I was the Twilight Princess :)

We left the house around 5:30. Charity walking, me pushing Danielle in the stroller cuz I didn't want to carry her for that long. Our Neighbors Tiffany and Alex went with us. Alex was Alexander the Great and Tiffany went as Alexander the Great's mom, Queen Olympius. Their costumes were great!

Well, Charity absolutely LOVED trick-or-treating. So much, that we didn't make it back in the house in 7:30! That's right, we were trick-or-treating for 2 hours and even then she didn't actually want to come in yet. lol. At every house it was "Let's go to the next one, Mommy."

I think she just wanted the candy :) That girl has a sweet tooth. It was nice though some of the houses gave out little toys and such instead of candy. She'll really enjoy those. Shh got some playdoh, some goo, a pencil. I don't remember what else but she picked all of those over the candy so that's at least nice. lol. If she has her way, it'll all be gone tomorrow, if we have it our way, she'll have candy until at least christmas!

I'll try to get the pictures posted sometime this weekend but it probably won't happen until the beginning of next week since we're headed out of town tomorrow. My SIL is having her baby shower tomorrow! I'm excited to go. But it's getting late and we've got to get the girls to sleep, get everything packed and then we want to play a game of Age of Empires before we go to bed! Busy, busy night :) But lots of fun!

LeeLou Launch Party

So, here's something cool :)

Tagged Again!

My friend Jayme tagged me for this one!

What's your husbands name? Dennis

How long have you guys been married? 6 years

How long did you date? 8 months

How old is he? 28

Who eats more sweets? me

Who said I Love You first? him

Who is taller? him

Who is the better singer? tie

Who is smarter? him

Who does the laundry? me

Who pays the bills? me

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? him

Who mows the lawn? him

Who cooks dinner? mostly me

Who drives? him

Who is the first to say they are wrong? Neither, lol

Who kissed who first? he kissed me, ok tried to kiss me :)

Who asked who out first? uh, tie? lol.

Who wears the pants? I'd say we both do.

I tag Miranda, Kim and Laura

Getting Ready for Halloween!!!

So, I waited in posting this because since my parents were coming to visit I wanted it to be a surprise for them. I just talked to my dad on the phone and he started talking about my hair! I wanted to know how he knew! And he told me not to send him an e-mail about it if I didn't want him to know. lol. I have it set up to e-mail them when I update my blog. Anyway, I completely didn't realize that I mentioned in my 8 Tag post. Oops, ruined the surprise. lol. Oh well. So here it is!

Well, I'm going to be Princess Midna from Zelda: Twilight Princess for Halloween. I've been working on my costume now most of the week. Here's what I did on Monday:





So, what do you think?

I've got to finish the headpiece now for the costume and do a lot of painting once my parents get here (my mom is sewing it for me). I'm really excited about this! Saturday is Boo at the Zoo that we're taking Charity too, and then that night is our Ward Halloween party (trunk-or-treating) and I'm dressing up for that!!! I LOVE Halloween! :)

8 Tag

8 Tag I was tagged by Konner's Mommy and here are my answers...

8 TV Shows:
Biggest Loser, Fringe, Privileged, Gilmore Girls, Stargate, Bones, King of Queens, Everybody Loves Raymond

8 Restaurants
Rodizio Grill, Bajio, Cafe Sabor, Pizza Hut, Sonic, Taco Bell, KFC, Applebee's

8 Things I Did Yesterday
(yesterday was a lazy day cuz I had sick kids so...) worked on my halloween costume, read a book, watched tv, played on the computer, cooked lunch/dinner, played with Charity, played with Danielle, and straightened up the living room

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To:
Boo at the Zoo, Ward Trunk-or-treat party, my parents visiting, My SIL's baby shower, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, visiting my twin in March

8 Things on my Wish List:
my halloween costume was done already (it still requires a lot of work!), my hair was more orange than red, Charity was feeling better, got to spend more time with Dennis, a bookcase, a nice bed frame, a bedset, complete set of Jane Austen Movies

I tag anyone who hasn't yet done this.

Political Musings

OK, so I have decided that I am completely fed up with this whole 2 party system that we have going on. Has anyone heard the phrase about what happens to a house divided? This two party system has divided our country. It's made it all us v. them. It's not good for the US. While I am still undecided as to who I am going to vote for, I'm researching the issues extensively right now. I thought I would throw out this list for you so you could see who else is running for candidate. If we as the American people chose to quit dividing our country every 2-4 years through this ridiculous system we currently have going on, it would be better for everyone. So, I've found this list of presidential candidates.

I'm going to be researching each one and voting for the one I truly believe could make a difference, and ignore this whole dumb republican/democrat stuff. So what am I? I'm an American voter.

For those interested in the list who don't want to click the link here are the candidates and their websites:

Ralph Nader
Cynthia McKinney
Chuck Baldwin
Bob Barr
John McCain
Barrack Obama

Look at our nice range of candidates. So for those of you fed up as much as I am with this. Check out the others and see if there is someone who you can get behind as a presidential candidate.

Babylegs

So I really want to get Danielle some baby legs. But they cost like $12! Ouch. So I just found this tutorial online and I think I might try making her some. They would be so cute during the winter for her to wear to church under her dress and then when she starts crawling they'll help protect her legs from the tile and hardwood floors that we have!!! I think it's a great idea! Dennis doesn't agree with me, he thinks tights are good enough but even he has to admit that those little knees need something comfy for crawling.

Fun Day, Or Not

Well, this has been a long day. It all started early last night when as we were going to bed we could hear Charity coughing, coughing, coughing. I decided to go nurse her for a few minutes to see if it would help soothe her throat so she could sleep peacefully. While I know she was really glad to have some comfort from mommy, she was sick. She ended up not going back to sleep until 12:30. I also ended up letting her sleep in the living room and watch My Little Ponies all night. But then she was up again at 2:30 and didn't go back to sleep until after 4 :( And she threw up several times as well. My poor girl :( I am happy to report that while still coughing a lot today she hasn't thrown up at all since she got up for the morning. Although she did crash for a couple of hours in the afternoon which was good because she needed the sleep. I hope tonight is going to be a lot better.

Onto the fun part, our new bed was delivered this morning! So it was fun getting it set up. But Yay!!! We have a king sized bed now! I'm so excited, lol, it'll make sleeping with little ones invading in the middle of the night much easier.

The First Snowfall of the Season

Well, it's happened, we've had our first snowfall! Charity insisted on going out to play in it this morning! Daddy got her ready and took her outside. She loved it. One time he threw some snow at her and she looked at him and said, "Daddy, do it again!" A little while later I held Danielle by the window so she could look out at it and she just got a big grin on her face watching it (big surprise there that she was smiled about it, huh? But yup, it is snowing. I was warned it was coming but I'm still not quite prepared for it! I mean it's only October! I was hoping for a warm halloween but I guess it's going to be another year where we've all got to be bundled up while trick-or-treating :)

While I don't really care for winter time and the snow (I'm scared to death to drive in the snow). The first snow fall does get me really excited because it means the holiday season is on it's way and that's one of my favorite times of year!

,m,llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll,,jn t dfc h,n nmmmmm n//cg78yh nnh h bb 4e b7 be3 b g vb 7y77 ghn h b66666666666666 b

Danielle says hi and she is just thrilled that mommy is letting her play with the keyboard! lol.

Onto other news, have I mentioned I'm dyeing my hair bright red for Halloween? Yup, I am and Dennis is freaking out! He's not too sure he likes the idea much. It's a temporary dye but it can last from 5-40 washes so I might have red hair for a while! A little scary I must admit since I've NEVER dyed my hair before, in any way. But my friend Tiffany has offered to help (she dyes her own hair occasionally so hopefully we don't mess it up too much! But, aahhhhhhh, my pretty blonde hair... oh well, it'll be interesting at least.

Photo Tag

My fourth photo in the fourth folder of my fourth folder (since the one above it didn't have a fourth photo :)



I tag: Dirkmaats, Miranda, Laura, and Jayme

Oh no!

Ahhh, things just keep getting worse around here :( Poor Charity, now her cat is missing. Tuesday when Grandpa and Mindy left I was holding Danielle and I had to fight Charity to go back in the house (cuz he hates going back inside). Well, I left her kitten outside cuz I couldn't chase him to get him back in the house while dealing with the girls and when I remembered later to go out and get him. He was nowhere to be found. It's now been two days and we can't find him :( He was such a pretty well behaved kitty too :( I think I've decided we just can't have pets right now. It is just not working out for us. So, maybe in a few years we'll get them another cat or something.

Yesterday we went to the zoo again which was a lot of fun. Charity doesn't seem to be able to get enough of the zoo. We went to a playgroup first yesterday morning and I said something to someone how we were going to the zoo later and the next thing you know Charity is over by the car ready to go because she needs to go to the zoo now. Then she wouldn't even eat lunch really because she kept insisting she needed to eat it at the zoo! It was a fun day, but what do I hear from her this morning? "I need to go to the zoo mommy!" Yes, Charity, but not today! lol.

On the bright side I went to the yoga/pilates group this morning and it was sooo nice. I just wish I could convince Charity to go play with the other kids instead of trying to sit near me the whole time. But she is just so shy. Who knows, maybe after we've been going enough she'll get comfortable and go play instead.

Well, I've been neglecting the house this week and I think I just heard Danielle waking up from her nap!

Redefining Normal, Once Again

So, Sunday night when we got home we were pleasantly surprised to find out that Mindy had come for a visit :) It's always nice to see one of my favorite SILs. But then we had horrible news! Grandpa had decided to move back to Delta.

It's been a strain on him being here because he's not used to not working and hasn't been able to find a job yet. We knew he'd been thinking about it but he'd finally decided he was going. Well, him and Mindy just left to head down there :( It's terrible to say that I really wanted him to stay and for purely selfish reasons? He was such a great help while he was here. He picked up after Charity for me, vacuumed, did the dishes, mowed the lawn for Dennis, helped to entertain the kids, would watch Charity on a moment's notice if needed, watched Danielle for me so I could take Charity swimming a couple of times. It was really nice having him around but he feels it's best to move back now, so we had to let him go :(

Well, that leaves us at once again having a major change around and having to figure out what normal is going to be again. What an adventure Danielle has had so far in her short life! lol. I guess we'll just have to see where life takes us after this.

Religious Ramblings

I figured I'd take some notes on my blog while watching conference this morning :) I'll admit I wasn't very good at listenting yesterday since we were getting ready to leave, travellig, and then visiting so I can't wait for them to be posted so I can read them all. So, here are my religious ramblings, the things that stuck out to me and things I thought about while watching Conference this morning.

First, I don't remember who was talking but he spoke of being on the high ground. And he said something along the lines of those on the high ground are the first to see the light of day and the to see the last rays of night. It dawned on me that means that while we are on the high ground, we'll still have periods of darkness to go through. Everyone has trials in their lives and that's the dark but that by being on the high ground we should see the light of day first and until the last and keep up hope even during the dark times that light will be coming again.

I also thought of several years ago when my friend Sam and I went star gazing at the university. It was a full moon that night and there were several ways set up to see the moon. One of which was just looking at it, how awe inspiring a full moon can be with the naked eye. But then, they had some binoculars for us to use and WOW the detail you can see on the moon just by looking at it with binoculars. Then there was a telescope, you could look at the moon so clearly with the telescope. It caused us to think that that is a lot like our view of heaven and spiritual things here on earth. Everyone is just looking at it with the naked eye, but by having the spirit with you, you get to look at it with binoculars, but then you have those moments where you glimpse so much with a telescope view. But then we took it even further than that, to think that there have been those who have walked on the moon. We knew that's where the prophets have been, they've walked on the moon, they've been able to see those details with the naked eye. I'm sure there are those besides just the prophets (like the quorum of the twelve). But what an amazing analogy we came up with that night. It's something that has stuck with me all of these years and I just figured I'd share it with you now :)

Intersting the Young Woman's president spoke of the same story as the man above about the guy (sorry can't remember the exact name) who was poisoned by degrees as he left the high ground. She's stressing the importance of the fact it was done by degrees. How true it is, the further away we travel from the truth, the harder it is for us to recognize the truth and from right and wrong. "One virtous young woman or young man led by the spirit can change the world." I hope I got that quote right :)

Yesterday, they spoke about being prepared for the situations you are in. I don't remember the exact wording or who was speaking but he spoke of dressing appropriately and that you wear different shoes to go hiking and different shoes to go to the beach, that you are dressed and prepared for the situation. Oh, it was in regards to dressing and being prepared when you go to sacrament. Anyway, anyone seen the shoes I wear hiking? Yup, they're my heels, ofcourse I wear those to the beach and to sacrament as well so I guess I'm always ready with my footwear :)

There is no tomorrow to remember if you don't do anything today,. finger prints on every surface, toys scattered around the house, piles and piles of laundry to do, they will all disappear too soon. Don't let them get in teh way of what is the most important, and that is the people around us, don't assume they know, tell them. Don't let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved.

Interesting

So I read this news article yesterday on the wii news system (I'm gonna have to see if I can find it online) about how the world is blaming the US for the a possible world financial crisis. One quote was along of the lines of the US needs to take responsibility for this and things like that. Now for a little disclaimer, I am in no way saying the US is or isn't at fault and this is not about any of my particular views in regards to the matter. It's simply that I made an interesting observation while reading this article. That was that you always hear that the US is too ego-centric, seriously you hear it in regards to so many different aspects of things. But then you read an article like this and the question that begs to be asked is "How can the US NOT be so ego-centric?" As I said I'm not saying we should or shouldn't. It's just that because the US is having financial difficulties the entire world is starting to have problems and blaming the US for all of the problems. They are not holding themselves accountable for their own actions that got them to where they are at (for the most part). Except Europe did say they were a little to blame for following the US's example so much. Still, trying to put the blame there... But, seriously, how can the US NOT be so egocentric?

I don't think I've been very clear at getting my thoughts out and I wish I had that article to refer back to to refresh my memory. I may have to do a better search after reading it again on the wii :) But it just seems to me that all of these other countries blame our actions on the outcome of the entire world's financial system. I just found it funny and ironic, that's all.

Talk about a heart attack

OK, so the cute thing first. Charity decided to get herself a snack and got the bag of cereal out of the cupboard and started pulling out handfuls of cereal and putting them on the walker to eat. Too cute. Although it's like the 4th time today she's eaten cereal. Silly girl. She had it when she woke up super early this morning, than she insisted on it for breakfast and then for lunch too. Silly silly girl! Ok, so that was cute. The NOT CUTE part was that I had brought the walker upstairs for Danielle earlier in the day to play in. I had blocked off the stairs with the bar stools so that Danielle couldn't get near them. Well, when i wasn't paying attention, after putting the cereal on the walker (no Danielle wasn't in it) Charity moved the bar stools, got in the walker and just about tried to go down the stairs in the walker! Talk about a heart attack as soon as I realized what she was just about to do. Luckily with a firm "Stop, Charity". She turned to look at me like "what mommy?" and didn't go down. She likes to sit in the walker downstairs when she watches anything on tv or even just to play in and i guess she decided she wanted it back downstairs. So, I carried it down for her but I'm going to have to be super careful in the future when I bring it up for Danielle to play.

Oh, and Danielle had fun moving around the kitchen in the walker :) Sorry I didn't get a video I'll have to next time but I just found one more thing she enjoys doing. She is such a happy baby though, is there anything that she doesn't like? Ok, besides her bouncy chair now. The cat decided to try to use her head as a scratch post the other day when she was in it and she no longer likes it, can't blame the poor girl. But boy did the cat get in trouble for that. My poor baby had claw marks on her head :( I was switching some laundry over and heard blood-curdling screams coming from my baby in the living room, ran in there to see what was wrong and she was just so upset the cat was sitting on the floor by the bouncer. It took a few minutes for the scratches to get red and noticeable and then you could tell what had happened :( I think we're going to get him de-clawed because he's just not learning that it is not ok to use them in the house and with the girls.

Oh, we did end up deciding to do the holiday plates and the ones we did to put out for examples turned out wonderful! Tiffany has them right now but I will definitely be taking a picture and posting it! I think this enrichment night is going to be a lot of fun and be a big hit as well!

Help

OK, so we may have to come up with an inexpensive christmas craft idea, and fast. So, if any of you have a good idea please let me know! We were going to make these little booklets about the twelve days of christmas but the sister in our ward who has one (that we were going to use as an example either can't find hers or can't get to it) so I need ideas! I've got to get it ready to display tomorrow! I did find one thing online last night, Holiday Plates, that I think might be good, I'd have to check into it further though.

I need something to do!

So, I'm a bit bummed. Dennis started working 4 10s this week so he should be home today for a day off. But no, he's having to work this weekend because he's got a big deadline at work coming up soon :( He probably has to work tomorrow and he may have to work next weekend as well :( I want to spend time with my husband!!! Oh, and he's also got an assignment due Tuesday so he needs to spend a lot of time on that as well.

It's hard to type when you have a 4 month old in your lap who really likes the keyboard! Danielle is getting so good at sitting up! Pretty soon she'll be able to do all the sitting up that she wants! Although right now she's going through a Mommy I want all of your attention phase. Those are even harder to handle with a toddler around! Occasionally Charity plays with her for me to try to entertain her and it is just the sweetest thing. They love each other so much! I hope it lasts, lol.

I had started a post yesterday about my busy week but never got to finish it and didn't save it either (silly me!). but it has been a busy week. In our ward a yoga/pilates class got started this week. It's Tuesday and Thursday mornings and kids are welcome which is so nice! Then Tuesday night we had an Enrichment committee meeting. I got called as the co-leader on the Enrichment committee! What a change from nursery, lol. But we're going to have one of our big events in October. Our ward has the building the third thursday of every month so Nov was out because that is Thanksgiving and then in Dec. it's just too close to christmas for our liking. But we've got to have examples ready (we're going to do some holiday crafts) and some sign-up sheets ready by Sunday! Since the week after that is conference and then it's the sunday before the activity! So, busy busy busy! lol. It should be a lot of fun, but we've got one more meeting tomorrow between the other leader, the RS second counselor (Tiffany!) and me. It should be good but a lot of work in the coming weeks!

Well, I have lots to get done today (since the house was neglected this week!) I hope everyone has a good weekend.

Ramblings

So, our stake has a marriage class that started today called Strengthening Marriages. There will be 7 classes total for it. Tonight was the first time and while we were there the instructor made a really interesting comment that hit me. He was saying how people used to take temple marriages seriously but now even temple marriages see the same rate of divorce as the rest of the country. Isn't that sad? That something so sacred and binding hardly means much to people anymore. I know I went into marriage knowing it was going to be something that would be forever. I'm not sure I realized how hard it could be at times, but I still know it's meant to be.

And I know I've only got 6 years of marriage under my belt, (Wow, how the time flies!) but Dennis and I are going through a hard time right now, we're both just having a hard time communicating what it is we need from the other. I think that's part of the reason we decided to go to this class. But I can't imagine every other couple out there fighting to make their marriages work. Granted, sometimes there are valid reasons but it seems that's not usually the case. Maybe this subject is just so close to us right now because of what's going on with his parents. My IL's (in-laws) are actually going through a divorce right now and FIL (father in law) is living with us. No one really understands why exactly since MIL (mother in law) hasn't really given any reasons, but Dennis and I know that we NEVER want to see our marriage at that point. EVER. It is just so heartbreaking not only because of what it's doing to them but because of what it's doing to the entire family.

Dennis actually has nightmares about it sometimes, it's just so heartbreaking for him. It's just something you never expect to see happen, to other people's parent's maybe. But not your own. Granted his parents had been having troubles and things had been really rocky for a few years but I don't think anyone expected this to happen. It's just so sad.

Oh, I forgot to mention, Danielle had her 4 month appointment on friday! She weighed 12lbs, 12oz and was 25" long! The appointment took forever but it was nice to know she's gaining well :) She didn't handle the vaccinations very well

Last night we rented Made of Honor and watched it. My neighbor had heard that it was really cute and while I thought it was an ok movie, I didn't really care for it. It was similar to my Best Friend's Wedding only with a guy starring but it was a bit different as well. I did like the fact that he didn't actually do anything underhanded or sneaky to try to sabatouge it like in My Best Friend's wedding and there were some funny parts in it. The thing that bothered me was the guy's love seemed purely selfish. It wasn't really love for her, it was more like loving what she did for him. I don't know, I could be way off base here, but it doesn't seem to me that you love someone for what they do for you. Maybe that's a lesson I need to learn, to not be selfish in love and that's why it struck me that way. But maybe that's how a lot of love starts, then after it's had a chance to grow and mature some you can find that it's not about that anymore. It's gotta be about loving the other person without expecting anything in return.

My Lullaby

I've never really had a song that I sing to Charity at night, none have ever seem to fit right so we've flitted from song to song that caught our fancy. Well, tonight while I was putting her to bed I started making one up. Here's what I've come up with:

Sleep now my child, your mother is near.
Sleep now my child, sleep now my dear.

Sleep now my child, there are stars in the sky.
Sleep now my child, while the moon drifts by.

Sleep now my child, there are wishes to make.
Sleep now my child, and dream 'til you wake.

Sleep now my child, your mother is near.
Sleep now my child, sleep now my dear.

I've got a pretty little melody I was singling along with it. I might add more to it, if I come up with anything else that I like for it!

105 questions

1. EVER BEEN GIVEN AN ENGAGEMENT Ring? yes

2. LONGEST RELATIONSHIP? almost 7 years


3. LAST GIFT YOU RECEIVED? gummy worms

4. EVER DROPPED A CELL PHONE? who hasn't?

5. WHEN'S THE LAST TIME YOU WORKED OUT? yesterday

6. THING(S) YOU SPEND A LOT OF MONEY ON? video games

7. LAST FOOD YOU ATE? peanut butter & jelly sandwich

8. FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT THE OPPOSITE SEX? eyes

9. ONE FAVORITE SONG? you're gonna miss this

10. WHERE DO YOU LIVE? near salt lake

11. HIGH SCHOOL YOU ATTENDED: preston high

12. CELL PHONE SERVICE PROVIDER: verizon

13. FAVORITE MALL STORE: don't have one

14. LONGEST JOB YOU HAD: convergys, 3 1/2 years

15. DO YOU OWN A PAIR OF DICE? yes

16. DO YOU PRANK CALL PEOPLE?: no

17. LAST WEDDING YOU ATTENDED: laura's

18. FIRST FRIEND YOU'D CALL IF YOU WON THE LOTTERY: sam

19. LAST TIME YOU SAW YOUR BEST FRIEND: too long ago

20. FAVORITE FAST FOOD RESTAURANT: sonic

21. BIGGEST LIE YOU HAVE EVER HEARD: i don't know

23. WHERE'S YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO EAT WITH FRIENDS? anywhere

24. CAN YOU COOK? I wish I couldn't

25. WHAT CAR DO YOU DRIVE? malibu maxx

26. BEST KISSER: dennis

27. LAST TIME YOU CRIED?: yesterday

28. MOST DISLIKED FOODS: fish

29. THING YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT YOURSELF: my hair

30. THING YOU DISLIKE MOST ABOUT YOURSELF: teeth

32. LONGEST SHIFT YOU HAVE WORKED AT A JOB?: 10 hours

33. FAVORITE MOVIE? Ever After and Raising Helen

34. CAN YOU SING? yes

35. LAST CONCERT ATTENDED? I don't remember! lol.

36. LAST KISS? dennis

37. LAST MOVIE RENTED: forgotten kingdom

38. ONE THING YOU NEVER LEAVE THE HOUSE WITHOUT: kids and diapers!

39. FAVORITE VACATION SPOT: yellowstone

43. LAPTOP OR DESKTOP COMPUTER?: got a desktop, want a laptop

44. FAVORITE COMEDIAN? don't have one, I guess if I had to pick though it would be Jeff Foxworthy

45. DO YOU SMOKE? no

46. SLEEP WITH OR WITHOUT CLOTHES? with

47. WHO SLEEPS WITH YOU EVERY NIGHT?: dennis, charity and danielle most nights!

48. DO LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIPS WORK?: they can but not recommended

49. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU BEEN PULLED OVER BY THE POLICE? 3x

50. PANCAKES OR FRENCH TOAST? pancakes

51. DO YOU LIKE COFFEE? no

52. HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR EGGS? over easy w/toast or scrambled

53. DO YOU BELIEVE IN ASTROLOGY?: no but it's still fun

54. LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?: dennis

55. LAST PERSON ON YOUR MISSED CALL List? someone for dennis

56. WHAT WAS THE LAST TEXT MESSAGE YOU RECIEVED?: free redbox rental code

58. NUMBER OF PILLOWS?: atleast 2

59. WHAT ARE YOU WEARING RIGHT NOW?: jeans and a t-shirt

60. PICK A LYRIC, ANY LYRIC: Back when

61. WHAT KIND OF JELLY DO YOU LIKE ON YOUR PB & J?: strawberry or raspberry

62. CAN YOU PLAY POOL?: yeah, but not very well

63. CAN YOU SWIM? yes

64. FAVORITE ICE CREAM?: blue bubblegum

65. DO YOU LIKE MAPS? yes

66. TELL ME A RANDOM FACT ABOUT YOURSELF: I have never dyed my hair

68. EVER ATTEND A THEME PARTY?: yes

69. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SEASON: fall

70. LAST TIME YOU LAUGHED AT SOMETHING STUPID? today

71. WHAT TIME DID YOU WAKE UP THIS MORNING?: around 7:15

72. BEST THING ABOUT WINTER?: hot chocolate

73. LAST TIME A COP GAVE YOU A TICKET?: do fix it tickets count? years and years ago

75. NAME OF YOUR FIRST PET?: Casey

76. DO YOU THINK PIRATES ARE COOL OR OVERRATED? overrated

77. WHAT ARE YOU DOING THIS WEEKEND? if I had my way, going to yellowstone, but probably just staying at home doing stuff

78. BIRTHDATE: May 26

79. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE?: me!

85. ARE YOU ON A LAPTOP?: no

87. ARE YOU SMILING?: yeah, have you seen all the missed numbers? This is gonna be more like 50 ?s!

89. DO YOU MISS SOMEONE RIGHT NOW?: yes

90. IF YOU COULD GO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD WHERE WOULD YOU GO?: Australia, Mesa Verde, Ixtapa & Zijuantanejo (sp?) Mexico, Brazil

92. ARE YOU IN HIGH SCHOOL?: no

93. DO YOU HAVE A CRUSH?: does my husband count?

94. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NAME? Charity and Danielle

95. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR BATHING SUIT?: black

96. DOES YOUR SCHOOL START IN AUGUST?: my kids did.

97. DID YOU GO ON VACATION LAST MONTH?: yes

98. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON A CRUISE?: no but I want to.

99. DO YOU HAVE A SISTER?: yup!

100. ARE YOU UPSTAIRS?: technically I'm on the main floor

101. ARE YOU IN LOVE?: yes

102. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN THE HOSPITAL?: yes.....

103. DO YOU WISH YOU COULD SEE ANYONE PARTICULAR RIGHT NOW?: yes...

104. WHAT JEWELRY ARE YOU WEARING? none

105. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO AFTER THIS SURVEY?: get Charity down from her chair.

Later

Well, I guess over 24 hours is still later... although much much later than I intended to be writing again! Yesterday was a busy day and it looks like the whole week is going to be busy because I'm watching my neighbors little boy for her all week (7 hours each day! except yesterday was 3). The kids are loving it but they are at this stage right now where they are constantly fighting and it drives me crazy. It doesn't help that he's a hitter, that really bothers me. but what can you do about it?

Well, let's see oh I think I missed talking about gaming. So I don't like playing games when I'm pregnant. Weird, I know. Well, after Charity was born I got into an online game called Lord of the Rings Online (LOVE IT BTW) but then as soon as I got pregnant with Danielle I lost all interest, really it was my first sign on pregnancy! Well, now I'm getting back into wanting to play games. I ended up buying Dennis the Wii for Father's Day. And he loves it, and I love it, and I think even Charity enjoys it. lol. For our Anniversary the beginning of August we stayed in a hotel and played Zelda on the Wii all day long. Sure, it wasn't nearly enough time to finish it but it got us started :) Yeah, I know, most people think we are absolutely nuts :P lol.

But now, Dennis has got me playing Diablo II AGAIN. (maybe that's just us getting ready for Diablo III when it comes out! lol. I had wanted to get back into Lord of the Rings but it's a bit too much for his dad and they started playing Diablo together and got me in on it so now I've got to spend countless hours playing Diablo when I want to play LOTRO! lol, I know I'm silly. But to add onto that I also have this insane desire to read (ok, so I love reading but the two conflict!). I've got a bunch of christian romance books, and then I've got the complete works of Jane Austen, and a bunch of others that are good. It's so hard to decide whether to play a game or to read a book. lol. Seriously though, isn't that nuts! Yeah, I know.

Gaming, Sleeping and Reading

OK, so first off I want to say that Friday night I ended up staying up pretty much all night reading The Host by Stephanie Myers. Silly, silly me for starting to read a book at midnight (might have been later even) especially since I knew once I started I wouldn't be able to read it. I stopped and went to bed about 7:30 in the morning, slept until almost 11. Then spent 4 hours on Saturday finishing it! What on earth was I thinking!?! It was a pretty good book though. I am hoping that it continues into a series since she's not finishing Midnight Sun. It will definitely be interesting to see where it goes if she does turn it into a series. Stephanie Myers is such a good writer. I know I've heard someone say they thought she wasn't very good but she writes in a way that you just CAN'T stop reading. It's been like that for me with every single one of her books, once I've started, I've got to finish. Now, I'll admit that is a strange quirk of mine, once I've started a story I have a need to finish it but it's not quite the same because with her books I HAVE to finish, and I just cannot put it down. So much for catching up on my sleep though.

Dennis accidentally woke me up this morning when he got up for work. Oh, and now Charity just woke up so I'm going to have to finish this later.

Wow...

So, yeah, I just got an e-mail about something on my bebo account. I had practically forgotten that I had a bebo account. It's been that long! It looks like I quit using it right after Charity was born. I remember back in the day. I did frequent it pretty often for about a year and a half though. Takes ya back. :) My last post on it had been about when Charity was born. And I had pictures posted from when I was pregnant with her. Really, it wasn't all that long ago but it feels like it. How quickly time flies. And how things change in such a short amount of time.

Oh, and I remembered something I was going to post about on Sunday :) It was in the getting to know you questionaire that was passed out. A couple of the questions were "What are some words to describe you?" and "Do you have any special talents and what are they?" So, I'll write mine here but I want to hear about yours as well! So, what type of words describe you and what are your special talents (cuz everyone has some!)

So some words to describe me are: forgetful, caring, energetic
Some special talents I have are: seeing the good in things and being optimistic

Ok, so what about you?

Results of the poll

The poll has now ended for Do Charity and Danielle look alike? And the result was, with 50% of the vote that they look similar! I guess I already knew that but it was still fun to see what others not. There were quite a few votes for Not Really though which surprised me, but I can see it.

Oh, I forgot to mention before that we took Danielle into the doctor's friday night because of a yeast rash on her bottom and when they weighed her she weighed 12lbs 5oz, that was with a wet diaper on though. So, even though at 2 months she weighed 2oz more than Charity had at 2 months, it seems that at 4 she may be a pound less (she turns 4 months on Friday and her appointment is a week after that). Charity was 13 1/2 lbs at 4 months. Intersting I think. Though, Danielle I don't think is nearly as long as Charity was either. They didn't check her height at the appointment but I know that she's not as long.

An update of sorts

It feels like it's been a while since I've done a good long post. So here goes :)

Charity now is just amazing me with her vocabulary and her abilities to communicate. She pretty much says anything she wants, whenever she wants. lol. But seriously, it's so cute to be able to know what it is she's thinking now. She just says the cutest things at times. I do struggle with her at times as well. I LOVE all the baby stages, they are so easy and cute. And while 2-year olds obviously have cute things going on they have a lot of not so cute things going on! She's gotten so opinionated that we just clash at times.

Danielle is growing like a weed. She'll be 4 months old on Friday. I know, can it be already!?! And she doesn't seem like my little baby anymore :( She can rollover, and loves to. When she's on her tummy, she's already trying to get up on her hands and knees. But wow does she love to smile and to giggle. Yesterday in Relief Society for 10 minutes or so she just kept looking around and giggling. It was the cutest thing. Several women had to turn to smile at her :) She is just so aware of what's going on around her.

I came up with the idea that we are all going to be Princesses for Halloween. Danielle is going to be a mermaid princess, Charity is going to be a rainbow princess (I found her the prettiest dress!) and I'm hoping to be Princess Midna still :) I had decided it was just going to cost too much money to make cuz the body suit I'd need would be atleast $30 but mom has a pattern for a bodysuit and said that she could make it for me! Yay!!! So we'll see how much the material will cost for all of it and it might still be doable. If not I'll just dress up to be a normal cute princess with my girls :) Dennis doesn't want to dress up so I'm not going to push him into it this year if he doesn't want to, it just ruins some of the fun.

So, now that Halloween is all thought of, time to move on to Christmas. lol... Ok, not really after all Thanksgiving is there in the middle but now that Fall is almost here I'm getting so excited for all of these holidays that are coming. I just love this part of the year there is so much to do and so much to look forward to. Christmas this year with two girls is just going to be so much fun! I know Danielle won't be old enough to be that excited about it but Charity will be even more than she was last year and it's going to be so much fun.

There was something else I was going to write about here that I thought of yesterday in Relief Society but I've forgotten :( Well, If I think of it I'll post about it but if not, oh well, we'll just all be left wondering.

Blog List Not updating?

Does anyone else have a problem with their blog list (the ones you visit) not updating? Seriously, mine is still stuck from like a week ago and it's driving me nuts!!!

Hmm, interesting once I posted this it updated...

Halloween?

So is it too early to be thinking about Halloween? Cuz I've already started thinking about Halloween costumes. I think Danielle is going to be a mermaid but I don't know about Charity, myself or Dennis yet! Charity said she wants to be an elephant but I don't know if I want her to be an elephant. lol. Dennis says he doesn't want to dress up this year and I'm thinking about being a fairy or Princess Midna out of Zelda: Twilight Princess... hmmm... something to think about anyway.

Which reminds me, anyone play Zelda: Twilight Princess yet? We just finished it this weekend and it was such a fun game! I'm not ready to be done. lol. Seriously, we had a save back like 10 hours from the end and I may go and start up that one so I can do more of the side stuff that we didn't! How funny is that! But seriously, Midna once she turns back into the princess (sorry that is such a spoiler!) would make a fun costume! Well, even her as the imp would be a fun costume, but I figure I'm a bit too big... Maybe I could get Dennis to be Link in wolf form and then we could have Charity be Midna... that would be cute too! Or Danielle be Midna and then Charity could be Link in human form... Can you tell I'm into family themed costumes? Gotta do it while the kids are young and you can talk them into it. lol. Last year we were pirates!

2 steps forward, 1 step back!?!

Potty Training sucks! So just as I'm thinking that Charity is completely potty trained and we won't have any more problems, she decides she doesn't want to be potty trained anymore!!! What!?! It was to the point she wasn't even asking for her treat after going on the potty and now she's only going on the potty like once a day. I guess I'm gonna need to kick up the praise and rewards again :( grrrr....

Oh no!

I forgot to say Happy Birthday to Dennis on here yesterday. Happy Birthday Honey! I love you and hope you had a good birthday!

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

I'm so Proud!

I'm so proud of my brother. I just found out that he is starting college this week! He has been saying for a couple of years he wanted to go but he's finally gone and done it. I just had to share. I am so proud of my brother!!!

Do they look alike?

This is Charity at 3 months, and here's Danielle at 3 months.
What do you think, do they look alike?
I definitely think they look similar but yet, different!

Now here's a picture of Daddy, and a picture of Mommy as babies.
(These pictures aren't very good cuz I used my cell phone to take a picture of them out of our picture album)

What do you think?

A fun Day

So, today was our "play day". I've decided that every Tuesday will be our play day where we go to the park, do a play date, just do fun stuff all day. I think it should be good for us :) This morning we went to the park with Tiffany, Alex, Ginny, James and Violet. We also ran into some other friends there. It was a lot of fun. Then Tiffany and us went swimming this afternoon :) Overall it was a really good day. Oh, at swimming Charity LOVES the slide so we must have gone on it atleast a dozen times. She's too little to ride it by herself so she has to ride on my lap to go down but she wanted to ride it by herself. lol. We got into several disagreements at the top of the slide about whether she could go down by herself or not a couple of times she tried and I barely got her before she pushed off. lol. Silly, silly girl!

Zoo Pictures - As Promised

Here are pictures that were taken at the zoo last week :) I love the one of her in the sunglasses!

Potty Training Success!

4 weeks! And we are done potty training! That's right, she's even pooping in the potty now. We had a breakthrough over the weekend!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so proud of my big girl. Ahh, I don't mind not changing her diaper anymore but how it only serves to remind me that my little girl is getting bigger! And her baby sister is just following along right behind her! Danielle is already trying to sit up and wants to pay attention to the world. And she can roll over already! In fact, she likes to sleep on her tummy silly girl. although the other day when I set her on the floor, she rolled over and just started looking around with such a huge grin on her face. You could just tell how she was so proud of herself. Atleast she doesn't roll over and sleep on her tummy at night but oh how quick they grow!

We love the Zoo

Yesterday Charity, Danielle, Grandpa and I went to Hogle Zoo (pictures to come). It was so much fun! I must admit, I think I love going to the zoo almost as much as Charity does. But, boy does it wear you out! Charity ended up falling asleep in the car on the way home (a little after 6) and I thought I was in for a long night... But nope, she actually stayed asleep and didn't get up this morning until about 8:30! WOW, it's been a long time since she's done anything like that. But, she hasn't been sleeping as well lately so I'm sure it was just a combination of that catching up with her and being worn out from walking around the zoo for five hours. Seriously, she hardly rode in the stroller at all, she walked and played pretty much the whole time we were there!

And she absolutely LOVED the carousel. It was the first time she's been on it and she loved it. So, from now on I think we're just going to have to alternate, one time carousel, one time train or something! I let her ride it twice because she liked it so much and cuz I had gotten 2 tickets so I could take her once and grandpa could take her once, although he ended up opting to sit with Danielle both times. The first time she rode the leopard and the second time she rode the giraffe. She likes the giraffes a lot. She got really upset when we were looking at the giraffes because I wouldn't let her get in with them! I heard "Mommy, want to touch the giraffe" over and over again. Then she got upset again once it was time to move on to look at something else! Oh, and she actually touched the big elephant sculpture this time! She was afraid of it last time and initially this time but it seems she is getting over that. Yay! for Charity! I think we're going to have to go again real soon.

I made a deal with her, after she has pooped on the potty 2x we'll go swimming and after she's pooped on the potty 5x we'll go to the zoo again. Hopefully this is enough motivation to get her pooping on the potty! Cuz she pooped 3x this morning and it would have been so much easier on me if it was in the potty! She's doing great with the potty training, in fact I think she is pretty much there except for the pooping, her last pee accident was a week ago and it had been like a week before that! I've got her in panties full time now (even at bedtime). Dennis didn't want to put her in panties at bedtime yet but I insisted and she's doing great! I told him to why use that if it was needed so we tried it for a few nights and she did good :)

Not to outshine my anniversary

I did disapoint dear Dennis though this weekend. He got me the Breaking Dawn book for our anniversary (the fourth book in the twilight series). but little did he know I had bought it earlier in the week, and finished it already! He found my copy on the couch thursday night and thought I'd found where he'd stashed my present and snuck it out! lol. Poor guy, he was disappointed he didn't get to give it to me. But the good thing is that he was planning on giving it to me on our anniversary and I would have been obsessed with reading it which would have completely ruined the weekend for us so it all evened out in the end!

Happy Anniversary

So, we just celebrated our 6th Anniversary last friday (the 8th). It was a lot of fun. Thursday night we went on a date and then we went to a hotel (I rented one here in town) and then all day Thursday we played Zelda: Twilight Princess (for the wii). It was soo much fun. And it was nice to be able to play without a 2-year old distraction ;) She's a really good girl, but she likes a lot of attention and makes it hard to play! We took her swimming at the hotel friday night as well. It didn't last very long though cuz the pool was COLD. She enjoyed it anyway though. I may have to take her swimming again this week. We will see. Oh, the hotel we stayed at had a hot complimentary breakfast. It was fabulous. They had pancakes, waffles, scrambled eggs, omelots (to order), bacon, sausage, muffins, bagels, pastries, fruit, yogurt and more. It was really good. The only bad parts were thursday night we didn't get to leave for our date until really late cuz Dennis' dad wasn't feeling well and we ended up asking our neighbors to watch Charity that night so it took some time figuring all that out and then Saturday morning Dennis and I both woke up not feeling well! We had upset tummies for most of Saturday :( But luckily we got over it by this morning. Other than that, it was great. Oh, except that we both still feel like we didn't get enough time together but ofcourse we never can get enough time together so that's no surprise. Maybe we'll try to go out and have a date night this friday since it didn't work out that well last week... hmm... we shall see.

Have & Haven't done

I saw this on another blog and it looked like fun. So here goes

Have Done
Haven't Done


Touched an iceberg
Slept under the stars
Been a part of a hockey fight
Changed a baby's diaper
Watched a meteor shower
Given more than you can afford to charity
Swam with wild dolphins
Climbed a mountain
Held a tarantula
Said "I love you" and meant it
Bungee jumped
Visited Paris
Watched a lightning storm at sea
Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise
Seen the Northern Lights
Gone to a huge sports game
Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty
Grown and eaten your own vegetables
Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
Had a pillow fight
Bet on a winning horse
Taken a sick day when you're not ill
Built a snow fort
Held a lamb
Gone skinny dipping
Taken an ice cold bath
Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
Seen a total eclipse
Ridden a roller coaster
Hit a home run
Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
Adopted an accent for fun
Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment
Loved your job 90% of the time
Had enough money to be truly satisfied
Watched wild whales
Gone rock climbing
Gone on a midnight walk on the beach
Gone sky diving
Visited Ireland
Ever bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
Visited India
Bench-pressed your own weight
Milked a cow
Alphabetized your personal files
Ever worn a superhero costume
Sung karaoke
Lounged around in bed all day
Gone scuba diving
Kissed in the rain
Played in the mud
Gone to a drive-in theater
Done something you should regret, but don't
Visited the Great Wall of China
Started a business
Taken a martial arts class
Been in a movie
Gone without food for 3 days
Made cookies from scratch
Won first prize in a costume contest
Got flowers for no reason
Been in a combat zone
Spoken more than one language fluently
Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
Bounced a check
Read - and understood - your credit report
Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
Found out something significant that your ancestors did
Called or written your Congress person
Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
Helped an animal give birth
Been fired or laid off from a job
Won money
Broken a bone
Ridden a motorcycle
Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph
Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
Eaten sushi
Had your picture in the newspaper
Read The Bible cover to cover
Changed some one's mind about something you care deeply about
Gotten someone fired for their actions
Gone back to school
Changed your name
Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands
Eaten fried green tomatoes
Read The Iliad
Taught yourself an art from scratch
Killed and prepared an animal for eating
Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
Been elected to public office
Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
Had to put someone you love into hospice care
Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
Had a booth at a street fair
Dyed your hair
Been a DJ
Rocked a baby to sleep
Ever dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all four
Raked your carpet
Brought out the best in people
Brought out the worst in people
Worn a mood ring
Ridden a horse
Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap
Cooked a dish where four people asked for the recipe
Buried a child
Gone to a Broadway (or equivalent to your country) play
Been inside the pyramids
Shot a basketball into a basket
Danced at a disco
Played in a band
Shot a bird
Gone to an arboretum
Tutored someone
Ridden a train
Brought an old fad back into style
Eaten caviar
Let a salesman talk you into something you didn't need
Ridden a giraffe or elephant
Published a book
Pieced a quilt
Lived in an historic place
Acted in a play or performed on a stage
Asked for a raise
Made a hole-in-one
Gone deep sea fishing
Gone roller skating
Run a marathon
Learned to surf
Invented something
Flown first class
Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite
Flown in a helicopter
Visited Africa
Sang a solo
Gone spelunking
Learned how to take a compliment
Written a love-story
Seen Michelangelo's David
Had your portrait painted
Written a fan letter
Spent the night in something haunted
Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane
Ran away
Learned to juggle
Been a boss
Sat on a jury
Lied about your weight
Gone on a diet
Found an arrowhead or a gold nugget
Written a poem
Carried your lunch in a lunchbox
Gotten food poisoning
Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission
Hiked the Grand Canyon
Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks
Gone to the opera
Gotten a letter from someone famous
Worn knickers
Ridden in a limousine
Attended the Olympics
Can hula or waltz
Read a half dozen Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books
Been stuck in an elevator
Had a revelatory dream
Thought you might crash in an airplane
Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert
Saved someone's life
Eaten raw whale
Know how to tat, smock or do needlepoint
Laughed till your side hurt
Straddled the equator
Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing
Gone to a Shakespeare Festival
Sent a message in a bottle
Spent the night in a hostel
Been a cashier
Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
Joined a union
Donated blood or plasma
Built a campfire
Kept a blog
Had hives
Worn custom made shoes or boots
Made a PowerPoint presentation
Taken a Hunter's Safety Course
Served at a soup kitchen
Conquered the Rubik's cube (almost)
Know CPR
Ridden in or owned a convertible
Found a long lost friend
Helped solve a crime
Commented on a friend's blog