Skiing...

Well we have journyed to Gooding,ID to visit my sister and family. It has done nothing but snow since before we got here. In fact today church was canceled because of snow!!! Can you believe it? Anyway tomorrow we are taking the kids skiing over in Fairfield. My brother-in-law works at the ski resort so we get free lift tickets and gear. Matty feels like he already knows how to snowboard cause he played a game on the Wii, zack just wants to go sledding, and Kaia is concerned cause she doesnt know how to ski. More to come on how the day turns out.

Another broken bone!!!

So we've been in Monticello for three days and on day two I am awakend (why am I always awakened to tragedy) by Kaia knocking on our motel door, then immediately a phone call from my niece from the motel office tell me that Zack slammed his hand in the door. Right after that news Zack runs down to the room and bangs on the door. I let him in and he immediately drops to the floor and starts writhing around, screaming and crying. He won't tell me what is going on, but I can guess that we probably have abroken something. Anyway he finally lets me have a look at his hand and I can tell his middle finger is pretty hurt. He asks to go to the hospital,and I'm thinking this is not Vegas, what kind of hospital are we going to be going to in a town of 2000! Well the emergency room entrance is icy and very scary to walk into. What if Zack would have fallen again on the ice...anyway there was no one in the emergency room, so wegot to a room right away, and right away they knew we were not from San Juan county :) The doctor came right in and he knew my mother-in-law and asked if I got along with her. Hmmmmm does he know something I don't??? Then we went to xray, and because I promised I wasn't pregnant I got to sit in the room with Zack. Ahhh the innocence of a small town. The xray showed he broke the tip of his middle finger on his left hand. So he's got a splint on for two weeks. So there is only a week and a half left in this year, Kaia needs to hurry up and break something so they all three can have broken something while their dad is gone. I get all the fun stuff, he misses all the illnesses and broken bones :) The other pictures are the kids playing in the snow in the motel parking lot. More to come as our two week adventure continues...
Broken finger Zack!!!

Womanizer...

Britney Spears new song "Womanizer" came on the radio in while we were driving in the car today and Matty asked what the word womanizer meant. So I explained that a womanizer is a man who doesn't treat women very nicely. One who goes out on lots of dates with lots of different women.
Matty: That sounds like it is a good thing to take women out on dates.
Kaia: Yeah they are being nice to women but taking them out.
I then had to explain that not only do they take lots of women out on dates but they also tell them lies, like I only want to date you, you are so wonderful, and then as soon as the date is over goes on another date and says the same thing to another woman, and over and over again. Then they kinda understood. The following are some excerpts following my explanation...
Matty: What does a womanizer look like?
Kaia: Zack and Matty you guys could be womanizers!
Zack: Dad is not a womanizer.
Kaia: Mom if you acted that way you would be a manizer.
Matty: Mom, I'm never going to be a womanizer, you know that.
Kaia: That Britney is one smart girl. She knows that he is a womanizer.

Thanks Britney, my kids learned a new term today...

That is one smart girl!

Fire in the Kitchen...

Imagine a quiet, peaceful Saturday morning. The kids are awake and quietly doing whatever when all of a sudden you are awakened by a screaming alarm. My first thought was one of the kids set off the alarm by accident. So I bolt out of bed and run to the laundry room and punch in the alarm code. It didn't turn off the alarm the first time, so I punched it in again, still no luck... that is when Matty yells to me to come to the kitchen. So as we run to the kitchen I notice the smell of smoke. I turn the corner into the kitchen and notice a fire in the toaster. Matty had set his poptart for extra long and the thing caught on fire. I pulled out the toaster plug, and blew out the fire. The alarm was still going off at this point so I thought I should use the broom to fan the smoke away from the smoke detector, but as soon as I got to the broom the alarm turned itself off. At that moment Kaia ran back IN the house with her poptart in hand crying hysterically. That is when noticed what she had on... A tank top with a half jacket. She had no panties on! No pants! Nothing! She knew when a fire hapens to get out of the building but she forgot to put clothes on! I wonder how many people saw my 5 year old sprint out of the house screaming and crying with no clothes on her bottom half? Wonderful :) Needless to say poptarts are not on my grocery list, and my children are not allowed to be using those appliances without my supervision.

In Reno

I am in Reno for the weekend for my sisters bridal shower. No one up here was going to throw her one so I volunteered to do it. My mom and I flew up this morning for the shower tomorrow. It should be fun. I am so looking forward to getting my computer back Monday. It has been running so slow and crashing so I took it in, but I have so many new posts to do... Matty getting his cast off, my backyard garden, Thanksgiving, and my favorite... waking up one Saturday morning to a fire in the kitchen. Check back soon. Ta ta for now.

A road trip and great gas prices!

I had to travel to Monticello, UT to get my kids. Why were they there you ask, and where the heck is Monticello? (See map)

Well they were on track break and my mother-in-law offered to take them for two and a half weeks! Maybe you are thinking, "I could never be without my kids for that long, and what a bad mother, and how could she let them go (or maybe you are not)" Well I will tell you, it was very easy! Since I am the only parent 24/7 for months at a time it was a very nice, very needed break! Anyway, as I drove into Cedar City I noticed gas was $1.77!

How could it be so much cheaper than here? Bear in mind that I took these pictures two weekends ago, and gas in Vegas was still over $2. I gladly filled up my tank and couldn't wait to fill up again on the way back to Vegas. It's stupid, but I've never paid so little to fill up my van!

Nevertheless I made it there and back on less than $100 for gas, which is unheard of for my van. The kids had a great time and I got so much done in my house! Every parent should be so lucky :)


Matty and Kaia in Grandma Nancy's maid cart. (she runs the Monticello Inn in ... Monticello!)

My 100 things...

I stole this from Amanda who stole it from someone else... It is fun way to tally your own successes as well as get to know a little more about me :)I have done the things in orange
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (have not been to Madagascar yet!)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class--I've always wanted to do this!!!
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper ( I was 10)
85. Read the entire Book of Mormon or Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life (just last Friday!)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit (when a student assaulted me at school)
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

If you are thinking you haven't done anything with your life, you may be surprised at how many cool things you have done!

Masters Degree?...Done!

So after 2 years and nine months I can officially say I have completed my Masters Degree in counse;ing! What a relief to be completely done. It's funny how the program started out so intense with papers due every week along with presentations, and end with us meeting for 30 minutes every Monday. While it is fun to sit and chit chat with these girls that I have spent the last almost three years with I do not enjoy the drive. I, of course, had to get placed at the farthest campus from my home on Flamingo and the 2-15. Whatever... my parents have been an amazing supoport during this whole process. First of all they paid for all of it, they paid for my babysitting on school nights, and they came over every Monday at 8pm to put my kids to bed and take the sitter home! I am so grateful they did all of that. What an amazing sacrifice on their part. My dad said (3 years ago) that they had some extra money for eachof us girls and if it would help my famiy they would like to pay for my degree. So now while the other girls in my class now deal with repayment of student loans, that is not a stress of mine.

This is one of my favorite profressors on the last night of class at the Cheescake Factory for our celebratory dinner! (Linda McGrath-Green)

My teammate for the last 3 years Michelle, counselor @ Coronado HS

This is the group of us at dinner. We are only missing Bree who had her baby 3 days earlier.

This was our classroom for the last 3 years. We never sat in any different spot, it gets to feel like home, ya know?

Picture of all of us in class. We lost one girl who moved to AZ with her boyfriend, but she still finished the program. Miss you Jen!

So what am I left with you ask? Well, I will show you...
A stack of name tags
Two feet of paper from my binders
A binder with all the papers I wrote!
An empty book shelf.
Empty binders and...


An office of my own!
I share a contract at Foothill HS with a friend. It is nice to be a part time counselor :)
So University of Pay too much I mean Phoenix I bid you farewell and may we never have to meet again :)

Halloween

So you'd think that a Halloween post is just a Halloween post except for when it isn't... it's a little ranty... confused? Okay, I hate Halloween, bottom line; not because it is a devil holiday, I just hate that the stores charge so much for costumes that my kids only wear once, and that I have to buy candy for other people's children and strangers who come to my house and try to look in, and I hate going around to other's houses begging for candy... Wow! glad I got that out... This year my boys each wanted a costume for $40 dollars each! I about lost my mind so I told them I was not buying costumes for anyone this year. They were a little sad, but they got over it so we went digging at my mom's house for some costumes cause she doesn't throw anything away. (My mother-in-law, I think, felt bad for the kids cause their mean old mom wasn't going to buy costumes so she found a cute lady bug costume for Kaia and gave the boys each $5 to help with the costume price, which was very thoughtful) This is what we came up with...

Initially for the stake harvest festival Matty was a rabbit in a hat but he hated it by the end of the afternoon... so we switched to elephant, then dog then mummy!

It took me 40 minutes to wrap Matty up as a mummy, and he went to 10 houses and then pooped out. He was done, so my dad took him back to our house where he helped my mom and dad hand out candy.

Kaia as the beautiful lady bug. She didn't like the face paint I had done before so we didn't do any Halloween night.
Kaia took a picture of me. She asked what my costume was and I told her I was dressed as her mom.

It took some convincing, but I talked Zack into wearing an old lady suit. I told him people would laugh but only because they loved the costume, which is indeed what happened. In fact, many people thought he was a little girl in an old lady suit. It is the greatest free costume ever. Any suggestions for next year? How can we top the little old lady???
Amount of money spent on Halloween $11 (face paint) priceless!

School Pictures

I can't believe my first born is in 4th grade already! He continues to look more like his dad everyday. In two years he is going to middle school! I used to teach middle school, and I know what goes on there. I just hope he won't be beat up. He tends to be an easy target :(

Ahhh Matty! First grader, all boy, typical middle child. He has enjoyed all the attention having a broken arm has brought him. He continues to look more like my dad everyday. He always makes me smile.
And sister bear! Little miss Kindergartener! She lives up to every expectation one could have about her red hair and her attitude :) She bosses us all around and drives us crazy but we love the little princess! Don't really know who she looks like???

Twilight- Who are you?

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

I copied this from a friends blog. The description was pretty acurate except I totally pictured Bella more tragic than the description they gave. Anyway, try it out for yourself, tell me who you are :)

Grandma's Wigs!

My mother-in-law came over today before she left for Monticello tomorrow. She showed me two wigs she bought for herself to wear when she doesn't feel like fixing her hair. Of course, she and my children thought it was a good idea to try them on. Enjoy!

Quick weekend trip to Lagoon

This happened almost a month ago, but time has gotten away from me... My mother-in-law called at the end of August and asked if I would want to bring the kids and meet her in Salt Lake for a weekend and she would pay for out trip to Lagoon. Well how do you pass up free? She not only paid for our tickets to Lagoon, she paid for my gas up and back, all our meals, tickets to Hogle Zoo, and our lodging! My sister-in-law came up from Monticello with Nancy (mother-in-law) so my kids got to see their cousins too. It was a whirl-wind trip: I worked all day Friday and we left at 4pm after the boys got home from school. We didn't get to Ogden (where we stayed)until about 11:30pm. Up at 6am Saturday to get ready. Lagoon all day until we were rained out at 8pm. Asleep by 10pm. Up at 7am Sunday to get ready for the Zoo. At the zoo at 11:30 to celebrate Zack's ninth b-day, we stayed until 4:30pm. Quick stop at IKEA until closing @6pm then a six hour drive home. We got home at about 11pm. I had to then get up at 4:45 so I could get to work on time Monday morning! It was quick but we had so much fun, and I didn't fall asleep while driving (I'm known to do that)
Matty on the pirate swinging ship
My mother-in-law all covered up so she wouldn't mess up her hair on the ragin' waters ride
Kaia and I before our saloon shoot.
The saloon photo! I love Kaia's face... she looks right out of the 1800's!
We were surrounded by bees the whole time!
Matthew developed a crazy fear of them while we were there. I know I should have been consoling him, but I thought it would be great to take his sad little picture instead :)
Kaia giving her cousin Devon a massage at lunch
Zack and McKayla with Ronald after breakfast
This is Zack's birthday cake at the Zoo. Nancy bought all the kids a hat too and Zack picked out the biggest one!
All the cousins in front of an elephant statue.
Zack on the polar bear
Matty on the lion.
Kaia on some wild cat
Kaia with a meer cat! They were so cute :)