No fun

I hate it when household appliances that you use on an almost daily basis break. Well, in this case, almost break. Thank goodness it was almost because I would be in a really bad mood if it broke totally. We nearly lost our washing machine today due to causes incident to old age. It's at least 15 years old and probably a lot older than that. We really don't know its true age because it was given to us over 8 years ago and wasn't nearly brand new then. We think the problem we thought we were having, didn't really happen, and we will be able to nurse the silly thing along for just a few more months. Ryan has been promised a "generous" bonus in March and I guess we now know where it's going. New washer and dryer here we come. It's also going to be used to finish the guest bathroom remodel and finish the rest of the driveway and finish all of the other unfinished projects around here. I hope it's "generous" enough.

Merry Christmas

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night

I don't know what's wrong with me

Tonight, I got some sort of a bug up my butt and decided that since I had no real takers on my offer to let someone fold all of our socks, I would just do it myself. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking: "Whoa! There must be something terribly wrong with Christa." I was shocked myself. I'm the kind of person who likes to avoid things and they way I avoided the problem of socks needing to be folded, was to just buy more. We now have way too many. So many socks. Just thinking about all of them makes me tired. My husband told me last year to please not buy him anymore. (He really and truly did.) He said he had so many that it would take him around 5 years to wear through them all. He was absolutely right. I had given him about 20 pair for his birthday in August and that many more for Christmas. Bringing his total number to around 10,000. I'm notorious for my forgetful brain (and my avoidance issues) and if he hadn't asked me to stop, I probably would have given him at least 20 more for Father's Day.

The entire time I was folding them, and I made a good solid dent, I was wondering what was wrong with me. I wanted to stop several times, but for some reason I stuck with it. I had my iPod that my dear husband gave me for my birthday to help me and I tried to listen to good uplifting music like 50 Cent to get me through it. It worked. So, thanks 50. You helped me to persevere and I'm really proud of myself. However, I am thinking about seeking medical care to find out what made me decide to do this in the first place. It was totally out of the ordinary.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful

Trying to keep your house clean when you have small children, is like trying to shovel snow while it's still snowing.

I tried doing both today and wasn't very successful at either one.

Unitl recently, I didn't believe him

Ryan and I have been married for 10 years, 3 months and 1 week and for almost that entire time, he has told me that I snore. I have never believed him. I mean really, do I look like a snorer? Exactly.

Unfortunately, I have recently discovered this to be true. I actually awakened myself a couple of weeks ago from a deep sleep when I let out an extra loud snore. There have also been nights when I'm aware in a sort of sub-conscious way that I am. It's like I'm hearing the sound in the back of my head or something. I don't sleep very well when this happens because all I can hear is the snoring. Poor Ryan. I now know what he has had to deal with for all these years.

I don't think I'm ever going to admit to him that I know I snore. What kind of a girl would I be if I did that?

Quick Question

Has anyone ever worn a pair of their husbands athletic socks that are 3 sizes too big just because they didn't want to go downstairs to the laundry room to find some of their own? And have you ever done this for like 3 days in a row because the idea of digging through your sock basket just plain makes you tired and it's simply easier to take the pair of already folded ones from your husbands drawer? If no one else has ever done this, then neither have I.

A new love

Do you wish that you could get your hair to feel as smooth and soft at home as it does after going to the salon? Well, now you can. Try this and you will love it. Consider this my public service announcement/endorsement for the day. You're welcome.

33

I'm an odd number age again. It's such a comfort to me. I love odd numbers, unlike some weirdo people I know. It's freakishly weird to prefer even numbers to odd ones. I would much rather be 33 than 32 and it will be the same when I turn 34. I'd rather be 35. I don't know why.

My family (meaning my husband) was very nice to me and gave me one of these.
And I gave myself one of these. I've been wanting one for a long time and I figured my birthday was as good of an excuse as I was going to get.

Remember how I said she's been horrid? Well, here's another example

Last week, I made cheese enchiladas for dinner. All of the kids complained mightily about having to eat them. I have no idea why they hate them so badly, but hate them they do. And yet, I still continue to make them. I'm a glutton for punishment I suppose. I punish my kids by making them eat them and I punish myself because then I have to listen to the complaints. Anyway, I fed myself and Peyton (the only one who wasn't complaining) and then I took him downstairs to give him a bath. I left the responsibility of force feeding the rest to Ryan.

Ryan was going in and out of the kitchen because he was doing some work. Every time he would pass through, he would make the kids eat another bite. During one of his moments away, Avery saw her opportunity and left the room. A few minutes later Ryan came back into the kitchen, but didn't notice that Avery wasn't there. He told Tyler to finish up and Tyler was whining and crying about it. He didn't want to, it was disgusting, why did he have to eat it, we were mean parents for making him. Suddenly, I heard Avery call up the stairs from the family room to Tyler. (I hadn't even heard her come down.) She said, "Tyler, just do what I did. Sneak away." Yep. She's still being horrid.

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm so grateful to have all that I do. I hope all have a wonderful day, filled with love, fun, family and food. I love you all!

These are my nemesis

I'm willing to pay someone to come to my house and fold all of the socks in my sock basket. I would say that my husband has about 80 pair. Around 30 pair for each of my 4 children and I probably have around 60. If that doesn't sound like too much to you and if you're willing, please let me know. *Note - You will not be paid a monetary reward. You will simply receive a sincere thank you. That's more than most moms usually get when they do an everyday job like this. So, it seems like a fair reward to me.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The good part about letting your kids watch Kung Fu Panda is it's a fun family film that has a good message.

The bad part about letting your kids watch Kung Fu Panda is that they will think they are Kung Fu masters after having watched it.

The ugly part about letting your kids watch Kung Fu Panda is that they will try to use their newly learned Kung Fu skills to kick the crap out of each other.

*How did I not realize before yesterday that today was a short day at school? Thanksgiving break starts today and they don't go back to school until Monday. That's a lot of time to try to kick each others butts. I know I'm in for a very fun weekend.

He's at it again

Two days ago, I discovered that Cameron has again been gluing papers to his bedroom wall. GLUING! Argh! At his school, kids can receive special notes of commendation when they do something good. They're the size of a post it note. He has about 11 of them. He's very proud of them and wanted to display them. All in a nice, straight line. When I took the time to actually really look at them, I noticed that they were very flat and smooth on the wall and knew that this wouldn't happen with just tape. I tried to take one off and could barely get one of the corners up. Great. He did this in his old bedroom and when he moved in with Tyler, I threatened him (yes they're mostly empty threats) that if he did it again he would be one sorry little boy. I try to hide the glue and tape from him, but I obviously didn't do a very good job. Now we have 2 bedrooms that will need to have the walls patched, sanded and repainted.

If this doesn't get my parents to comment, I don't know what will

Avery has been one big stinker lately. She's asked a few more times to go back to her real family. To which I have responded, "well, if you can tell me where they live, I'll take you there." A couple of days ago I told her no about something, I can't remember what and she said, "my real dad told me I can do whatever I want." I told her to find that real dad so I can smack him for telling her that.

A couple of nights ago, I was trying to help her get into her pajamas. She was sort of flopping around and doing the exact opposite of what I needed her to be doing to get them on. I was really frustrated and asked her why she had to be like that. She gave me this sweet, snotty smile and the put her hands on my cheeks and said, "I don't want to listen to what you have to say." Evil. I smacked her butt and laughed at the same time.

All of her naughty antics have reminded me of a nursery rhyme of sorts that my dad would always tell me when I was little. It goes something like this:

There once was a little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good, she was very, very good. But when she was bad, she was horrid.

Horrid. That's a good word to describe how she's been acting.

Revealing my slobbish ways

My friend Annette is having a contest to find the messiest of messes. She challenged anyone who wanted to, to find the most disgusting room in their house and then clean it. You needed to take before and after pictures to prove that you really are a slob and then readers can vote to decide the winner. The reward for the best result is a watercolor portrait of one of your children painted by her. I've seen her work in person and it's amazing. I would love to have one of her pieces. I submit to you for your consideration my before and after pictures of the room I decided to clean. The reason I do this is because if you go to her blog and vote for me, I will obviously have extra chances to win the portrait. So, without further adieu, here is the room I decided to clean. It's called a dining room, but it's never used as that. It's used as my craft, scrapbook, sewing, catch all junk room. I do occasionally clean it, but I have to be honest and say that for the most part it gets ignored. The messes in there are not always visible and I'm an out of sight, out of mind kind of person. It's a room that I have wanted to clean for quite some time, but have lacked real motivation to get it done. A free portrait was just the kick in the pants that I needed.

Before

This is the entrance into the dining room. Peyton went on a mess making rampage several days before this picture was taken. No, I didn't let him crap up the place before I took pictures just to improve my chances of winning. Messes like this can often be found in my dining room. When I took this picture, those packing peanuts had been sitting, undisturbed for about 4 days.

The entrance to the dining room after.

The rest of the pictures are various locations throughout the room, before and after being cleaned.
Before
After

After

Before

After

After

Before

After

This disgusting spot is candle wax that Avery spilled on the rug no less than 2 years ago. I don't know why I had the brilliant idea of burning a candle on the table, within easy reach of children. This was the result of my stupidity. I tried to get some of it up at the time, but when I wasn't very successful, I simply gave up. Sheer laziness has kept me from doing anything about it since. I finally decided to do something and I'm quite pleased with and proud of the results.

Before

After

No, I didn't just take a picture of the rug in another, wax free spot. I really did get it up and here's how I did it. I placed an old rag over the wax (you want to be sure to use an old one because it will be ruined after this) and then placed my iron on the highest setting on top of the rag. The heat from the iron melted the wax and the rag absorbed it out of the rug. You want to be sure to keep the iron moving and not leave it in one spot for too long. If you do, you'll have a ruined rug.

I need to insert a disclaimer here. I know that the room could look better. There are still some boxes piled up in the corners, but for the time being, this still has to be used as a storage room. Once we move Peyton downstairs, I plan on turning his current bedroom into my office, craft, scrapbook, sewing, catch all junk room. When I do that, all the superfluous stuff you see will be gone and the room will finally be used for the purpose it was intended. A dining room.

Thank you Annette for inspiring me to get up off of my butt and improve the look of at least one room in my house. I'm not a total slob, but this room definitely needed some work. I now plan to move on to other rooms and closets and all the other dark and hidden places that could use a good dejunking. If anyone feels like it, go and vote for my room.

I need to go back to my real family

Today, Avery has decided that she doesn't belong here. She seems to think that there's a better family out there just waiting for her to come back to them. I don't know where this idea came from, but she's driving me crazy.

She's been asking "Mom, when are you going to take me back to my real mom?"

Me: "What do you mean your real mom? I am your real mom."

Avery: "No, I need to go back to my real mom. When are you going to take me there?"

Me: "Uhhh...I don't know. Maybe later."

Avery: "No. You need to do it now."

The first time she did this I thought it was a little weird, but also a little funny. The 30th time she did it I was ready to take her back to her real mom. Whoever she may be, but I just said, "whether you like it or not, I am your real mom and you have to stay here." I know that once she realized that what she was doing was bugging me, she just kept it up to annoy me more. It's what I would do, but it's still annoying.

Freakin Feet

I'm shooting for this! I know. Way to reach for the stars!

I have been really lazy lately. I was doing really well with at least walking, but since the weather turned just enough to give me a good excuse to not do it outside, I haven't been doing it. I have a treadmill in the room off of my garage and I could go out and run on it. You know, whenever I wanted and be inside and not affected by the weather, but I don't do it. I'm too afraid my feet will cramp up. I should go to a podiatrist and learn the proper way to tape them up (I'm pretty sure that I have really crappy arches) and start doing something again. If I did, it would get Ryan off of my back ☺. He still thinks that I'm going to drop dead from a heart attack at any time. Remember how my cardiologist said I'm just fine, but he did say that regular exercise was a good thing. Oh, I don't want to hear it.

The Monsters

Halloween 2008

Peyton the Dragon
Avery the Fairy

Cameron the Pirate

Tyler the Jedi Anakin Skywalker

Shopping

I would just like to rub it in every one's face that I am almost done with my Christmas shopping. That's right. I'm well organized and on top of things like that. Nanner, nanner! Except, I don't have a thing for Ryan yet. Oh, and there's our parents too. I have a small thing for the moms, but nothing for the dads and certainly nothing for the 2 of them together. I have to get something for the names Ryan and I drew in his family. Something for my brothers as well. I need to decide what to bake and pass out to prove that I'm a good neighbor. I also plan on getting things for the giving tree in our ward, but I have to wait until that's all set up. So, it's not really my fault that's not done yet, but crap! I guess I'm not as done as I thought, but I am determined to be entirely done with the big stuff by the end of this month. I don't want to be out shopping too close to Christmas. I hate being out with all of the idiots who are shopping during the Christmas season. It tries my sanity supremely and I always come home with a headache. I get enough headaches as it is, so I don't want to cause more. I suppose I could avoid the aggravation by simply improving my attitude. Yeah right. Like that's ever going to happen. It's just that some people have no common sense and I just have no patience. This references some of the things on my pet peeves list. I guess I need to pray for kindness, patience and tolerance and remember who is the reason for the season. That way, I can get it done without causing bodily harm to anyone.

Oh, what a beautiful morning

I was truly excited to wake up this morning to snow. I'm ready for it and for the winter season. By the end of January I'll want it to be done, but I'll take it right now. All of my kids have spent time doing this this morning. I love that they get excited over snow like me. No, it's not sick and twisted to get excited over snow.

This is what the cold and flu season looks like

Peyton has been sporting this runny nose and has also had a cough for about 3 weeks now. Most of the time, it looks much worse than this. It's usually green and all over his face. You all got lucky I'm not making you look at that. I think he's still cute. Disgusting nose and all.

It's the month to talk about stuff we're grateful for

I've found that simple things make me the most happy.


I used to buy more expensive clothes and shoes, but I've found that I really don't need them. Most of them wear out just as quickly as the expensive stuff. I'm just thankful that I have clothes and shoes to wear.


I'm thankful that in the summer months I have central air conditioning to keep us cool and in the winter, a powerful heater to keep us warm. I get teary every time I walk in from frigid air to a house that is warm and inviting.


I'm thankful that we have a home of our own. I don't need, nor do I want, a big, new, expensive house. My 45 year old house works just fine for me. I don't want to be house poor and I'm glad that we're not.


I'm thankful for my comfortable bed. I don't spend nearly the amount of time in it that I would like, but it's a comfort to me knowing that it's there.


I'm thankful that my children have a love of learning. It's amazing to watch their brains grow.


I'm thankful that my children have things that they are passionate about. They each have different talents. I'm thankful that we are able to nurture those talents and help them grow.

I'm thankful that we have a nice water heater. I love taking long, hot showers. I did not want to want to get out of the shower this morning.

I'm thankful that my husband has a good job. The troublesome economy hasn't affected us so far and fingers crossed, it won't.

I'm thankful that there are people out there, somewhere who read this. It's kind of nice.

Of course, there are so many more things that I'm thankful for. I'm just going to let this be enough for now.

I'm doing what somebody told me to do - Shocking

This is the box. It came from Costco. Cameron decided to turn it into a table. He drew the picture in the middle and then colored the rest of it. He loves to draw and color and would glue or tape every single one of his creations to the wall if he knew where I kept the glue and tape. Last week, he told his dad "art is what drives me."

He assigned everyone (himself, his brothers and sister) a side or position that they were supposed to sit at when using the table. He would insist that all four of the kids gather round it to eat and then get mad because they didn't fit, or that their plates were getting too close to his. He tried for about 2 weeks to get it to work. He had to finally admit that it was too small to be used as a dinner table.

By the 4's

I wasn't "tagged" to do this, but as you know, that's a good thing. I turn into a great big whiner and complainer when I am. Well, I'm a whiner and complainer all the time, it's just worse when I get tagged. It's the whole hating to be told what to do thing.

This is the 4th picture in my 4th folder of my pictures. When I first saw this tag and thought about doing it, I thought that the 4th one was a picture of a box. I was wrong. The box pictures were #1 & #2. These are my kids and Ryan's sister Natalie and this was taken in the Spring of '08. They're on the trampoline (obviously) and it's in the front yard of Ryan's parents house. My kids love jumping on it. They have one of their own that they jump on all the time, but jumping on the one at Grandpa & Grandma's house is usually the first thing they want to do when they go there.

L-R Avery, Natalie (she's the youngest of 7), Peyton, Cameron, Tyler

Lessons Learned

In 1993, my brother David gave my parents a calender for Christmas called "Live & Learn & Pass It On". At that time, I wrote down some of the snippets of wisdom contained in it. Here are a few.

I've learned that nothing of value comes without effort.
- Age 64

I've learned that nothing very bad or very good ever lasts for very long.
- Age 66

I've learned that days are long, but life is short.
- Age 88

I've learned that goldfish don't like Jello.
- Age 5

I've learned that kindness is more important than perfection.
- Age 70

I've learned that the only time I want to sleep is when I can't.
- Age 29

I've learned that you shouldn't confuse a black crayon with a Tootsie Roll.
- Age 10

I've learned that when I wave to people in the country, they stop what they're doing and wave back.
- Age 9

When I was 21, I wrote this:

I've learned that I haven't learned enough.

Now at 32, almost 33, I think that statement still applies. Sure, I've learned some new things, grown in different ways and had many life changing experiences since I wrote that. I got married. I've had 4 children. I've had several different church callings. We've bought and sold one house and then bought another. I've owned 3 different cars. I gained and lost some weight, but I still don't have enough of life figured out to consider myself wise. I think that's a good thing. One thing the Church is always encouraging us to do is to never stop learning. We should constantly be seeking out knowledge and ways to better our self. I'm trying. So, I'm going to revise my statement from 12 years ago just a little bit.

I've learned that I haven't learned enough, but I'm never going to stop trying. I'm grateful for all of the experiences that I've had. Whether I've had good days or bad ones, I've learned something from them all.
- Age 32 (almost 33)

If you want, tell me something that you've learned. Be sure to include your age to give us all an idea of where your perspective is coming from, and something to make fun of you for later.

Necessities

This is a list of some things that I can't live without. Nay, not can't. Won't. No. I'm not going to try, so don't even ask.


I've said before how much I love my family, my faith, my friends and all the other stuff. This isn't that kind of list. This one's all about a few of my material things that make me happy. Some of them might make others around me happy too. They make me smell better.


1. My flatiron. When in England and unable to use it for 4 days, I thought that I was going to die. Yes, DIE. It means the world to me. My dream flatiron would be a Chi. Just thinking about owning one gets me all weepy. I'm willing to do just about anything to get one. Like, finally remember to ask my sister in law to pick one up for me the next time she's at the beauty supply store.


2. Rusk Mousse. This is the best mousse I have ever used. It's not thick. It doesn't make my hair clump together. It doesn't flake and it even smells nice. My hair just wouldn't look sort of good (I say sort of because it only looks really good when a professional styles it) without it.


3. Rusk Radical Creme. Same reasons as above. Plus, it's a great finishing creme that adds a lot of shine.


4. Dove Ultimate Clear deodorant. I've tried lots of other kinds, but I can honestly say that this is one I really like. I decided to try it about 3 years ago because I wanted to take the "7 days to smoother underarms challenge". Now, I didn't get the miraculous change that I wanted with it (I wanted it to stunt the growth of underarm hair totally), but I did get underarms that were more smooth than when I started. Plus, I tend to have kind of persnickety and sensitive underarms. This kind is quite gentle and has never irritated my skin. Even after shaving.


5. Orbit Sweet Mint gum. I discovered this particular flavor a few months ago. It is so delightful. Very refreshing and not at all overpowering.


6. Old Navy French Vanilla Mint lip gloss. I found this while at an Old Navy last month. There was a container with several different flavors of lip gloss by the register. I picked it up out of curiosity. The salesperson said that it really was a great gloss. Not too heavy or thick and smelled/tasted really great as well. The not too heavy part really pricked my interest. I can't stand when a gloss feels like lipstick. I hate lipstick. It makes me feel like my lips are suffocating to wear it. The gloss was only $3.50, so I decided to give it a try. It's fantastic. It smells and tastes like the Orbit gum. Bonus. I find I have to restrain myself from putting it on too much. I highly recommend it.


7. Downy Ball. This little tool has absolutely changed my life. It's totally changed the way I do laundry. I no longer have to hang around to put the fabric softener in during the rinse cycle when washing a load. I pour it in the ball and throw it in at the beginning. It frees up so much time. If you don't have one, GET ONE. Yes, that's an order.


8. Magic Sizing . This is the most amazing stuff ever. If you don't know what it is, it's a very light body spray starch and it does exactly what it says it will do. That is, "Makes ironing easier". I'm kind of a snob when it comes to dressy clothes. Especially dress shirts. I can't stand if they're not ironed. Not just for men, but young boys as well. Come on, take the time to make your kids look good. Just running them through the dryer may be enough for some people, but not for me. It's very obvious when you don't really try that hard. Believe me.

9. My computer. I use it, need it, love it. Everyday. I pay bills, communicate with others, read up on current events, etc. I don't know what I would do without it. Well, actually I do know. It was torture being unable to use it while it was sick and being nursed back to health by smartie pants Ryan.

10. My car. (This link is not my actual car, but it looks just like that.) Yes, it will be 10 years old in January. Yes it has over 120,000 miles on it. Yes, I don't always keep it very clean on the inside, sorry Ryan, but I do love it. I love the space inside it. The cargo room in the back. I can't imagine grocery shopping with anything smaller. I will never own a smaller SUV or sedan after having this. I like my big car.

11. Venus Divine razors. Best woman's razor I have ever used. That's all I have to say about this one.

12. Ben & Jerry's Phish Food ice cream. This is my favorite flavor of Ben & Jerry's. No, I don't eat it everyday. That would just be silly, although I really wouldn't mind, but I do like to pretend that I'm health conscious. I usually eat it once a month at a certain time if you catch my drift. It's simply divine.

13. Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips. Really, anything Ghirardelli is my favorite. Not just the chips, but these are my favorite to bake with. I try to always have a bag on hand so I can whip out a dessert should the need arise. Which means, when I need to stuff my face with something sweet.

14. Scentsy warmers. I truly love these things. I currently own three and my husband complains about it all the time. He wants to know how many of them one house needs. I think they're just great. They freshen up your house in no time. Especially after I've cooked bacon or sausage for breakfast. It helps to get the smell out.

That's enough for now. There are more, but this post would be hella long if I took the time to list all of them. It's pretty obvious that I'm a simple girl. It doesn't take much to make me really happy. I'm sure that Ryan is glad about that.

Spooky!

I haven't worn an actual Halloween costume for the past several years. I've just been buying silly t-shirts to wear instead. I have the most annoying one to wear to my ward's Trunk or Treat tonight and for Halloween as well. It has a flashing, strobe light in it as part of the scene of the shirt. It's sure to give someone a migraine (most likely me). You're welcome all who see it. I do what I can to bring the Halloween Spirit to all. Really, I just love being an evil jerk! Gwahahahaha!

Getting to know me from the inside

Mary did this tag a couple of days ago and tagged everyone. I figured that I'm part of everyone, plus she didn't tell me directly to do it. Like, "Now, I tag Christa." I hate being told what to do and will put up a huge fuss over it. Her generic way of tagging made me feel like this was all my idea and therein lies the trick to making me do anything. Make me think I thought of it first and I will do it.

This is a photo tag. I had to take pictures of things around the house and the only rule was that I couldn't clean the things/rooms first. Here we go.

1. The refrigerator. This is a new one that we had to buy this summer when our last one kicked the bucket. It's the fridge on top, freezer on the bottom variety and I love it. Think about it, how often do you get into your fridge during the day? How often do you get into your freezer? I know that we get into the fridge at least 3 times more often than the freezer. I love not having the fridge on the bottom. You don't have to bend over to see things and they're always within easy reach. It's a beautiful thing.



2. The laundry room. My laundry room is actually pretty big as far as laundry rooms go. It's long and rectangular. It was hard to take a picture to get a view of the whole room. The first is standing outside, the second is one end and the third the other.



3. What my kids are doing. Here's what one of them was doing while I was taking pictures. This is Peyton eating Cheerios.

4. My favorite shoes. I don't have a pair of shoes that I would consider to be my favorite. So, instead, I took a picture of the pair of shoes I've had the longest. (Technically, this isn't a pair of shoes because I could only find one of them. The other one is buried somewhere in my closet.) I bought this pair of Dr. Marten Mary Janes in 1994. That's the year I graduated from high school. Yikes! Has it really been 14 years? I remember that I paid $106.00 for them. That was basically half of my paycheck from working at Arby's. In today's money, that would be like $1000.00.

5. A closet. We have no shortage of closets in our house. There's 2 in our master bedroom. 2 in Avery's room, 2 in Tyler and Cameron's room, you get the idea. We have a lot of closet space. This particular one is meant to be used as a linen closet. I use it as a pantry. To the left of it there's another closet and a coat one just inside the front door which is directly behind it.

5. Favorite room. This is my kitchen. It's not necessarily my favorite, but it's where I spend most of my time. It really bugs me that the stove doesn't match the fridge and dishwasher. They're both stainless steel. Once the stove dies, it will be as well.

6. Self portrait. The first one could technically be considered cleaned up. I had just got home from having my hair cut and colored and my eyebrows waxed. I had taken one earlier in the day, but wasn't sure I should use it. I decided it would be cheating if I didn't. So, these are really before and after pictures.

After

Before

8. Kitchen sink. Pretty self explanatory. No, I didn't do the dishes before I took the picture. I do them at night after all of the kids have had a bath and are in bed. I took this picture in the morning. So, I didn't cheat. If it were 6 hours later, it would be full of dishes.

9. A bathroom. This is the kids bathroom and is downstairs in the basement. Surprisingly, it was more clean than my own. It's missing a shower curtain because the kids destroyed the one that was in there. We have a third full bath upstairs on the main floor that will be used as the guest one. It's currently ripped apart and being remodeled. Right now it only has the tile on the floor down. Nothing else.

10. A heater vent. I am absolutely amazed that this wasn't more disgusting. There is a dead bee in there, but I don't think you can see it in the picture.

So, there you have it. A little more knowledge and information about me. I'm sure it's made you just love me all the more. (Which is all I really want anyway.)

"and seriously..."

This is a phrase I hear from Avery at least 5 times a day. It's usually said in an extremely sarcastic and or disgruntled/annoyed voice. Remember how I've said she thinks she's a teenager.

We have decided to carpool to preschool with Kristen. This week is our turn to drive. On Monday, when we picked up Wyatt, he was having a bit of a "difficult" morning. He couldn't find his backpack and just before we got there he had told his mom that she was the worst mom in the world. Hmmmm....I've heard that one before myself. Kristen and I talked him into going without one, but he wasn't very happy about it. I walked him out to the car and let him in on the side Avery was sitting on. He climbed past her to sit down and she immediately says, "Ummm...how come you didn't brought your backpack?" Like it was the silliest thing in the world to forget it. Why did she have to antagonize him? I told her to just leave him alone. Thankfully, he handled it well. He told her that he couldn't find it. She said, "Oh, well I always keep mine in our closet so that I can find it and seriously...why is your hair sticking up everywhere?" He had it gelled up in a faux hawk and told her as much and that he thought it looked really cool. She replied with, "Oh, well I don't ever do that with my hair." She's a very sweet girl and trust me she can be very nice, but oh can she be a stinker.

Quiet Time

I love it when everyone in my house is happy. I love the peace and quiet of nap time. I love being able to hear the classical music coming from my baby's room during nap time and nothing else. I love it when my children are getting along. I love watching them play together. I love listening to the funny games they make up. I love watching them role play. I love when they get concerned for each other. I love when they stick up for each other. I love it when my husband comes home from work and the kids run to greet him. I love that Avery makes her dad play horsey every night to carry her in to bed. I love that Tyler and Cameron make him tickle them every night when he tells them goodnight. I love my comfy bed. I love my set of striped sheets that I bought at Walmart (yes Walmart, I'm not highbrow) for $25.00. They get softer and better everyday. I love watching a good movie. I love to crochet. I love to scrapbook. (Sorry to all who don't because I know it's dead to some of you.) I love a good book, but I wish that I spent more time reading. I love that my husband works hard to support our family. I love my church calling. I love a good dessert. I love a lot of things.

Win a beautiful handmade necklace

My cousin in law, Rosie, makes beautiful necklaces and is having a giveaway on her etsy shop blog even as I type this. Go there to find out all of the details of what you could win.

Unbalanced

I've been feeling kooky lately and not in a way that makes me funny, eccentric or entertaining. Kooky in a way that makes me a beast to be around. I think that I'm getting to be a little more than usual anemic. I have had low iron almost my entire life. I inherited this condition from my mother, thanks mom, and I've passed it on to my son Cameron, thanks me. It's not a fun way to be. It gets worse when I'm pregnant and then improves some after delivery, but it never really goes away. I have to take an additional iron supplement besides my daily vitamin to help. My mom is much worse off than me. She's been so low before, that the doctors wanted to do a blood transfusion to up her levels quickly. She's had to have iron infusion treatments where they give you iron intravenously. She's also had to have a several weeks course of high potency iron shots. Nothing really helps that much and is never a long term solution. It just helps her to feel better for short periods of time. I'm not that bad, so I should be grateful. I can just tell that I'm not great at the moment. I've been getting a lot of headaches. Almost daily. I've been feeling very tired, crabby and uber emotional. Just a general feeling of blah. I can think of no better word to describe it. Unless you've been anemic, it's hard to tell you what it's like. Blah is just what it is.

I suppose I should get my butt to the doctor to have my blood drawn and figure this out.

Check this one out

Sorry to keep ramming this down your throats, but I'm really happy about this. Remember how Amy designed my blog background. Well, I just realized that she's designed one for another Amy and it's very cute. Go look at it and email the first Amy via the link on my sidebar if you're interested in having her do something for you.

It really was meant to be

Last night, I was resolved that I was going to have to buy a tutu for Avery. I was really bummed about it too. I was so happy that I had been able to find tulle that matched the wings and I thought that I was going to have to settle for a white tutu instead. Well, this morning I rallied and decided to pull a Molly Ringwald ahlah Pretty in Pink and try to make do and make the best out of what I had. I ripped the ugly, offensive tutu apart (NO, pictures of it will never be seen because I didn't take any) and took Amy's suggestion to make a no sew variety tutu. I didn't even have to Google it. She explained it just right. It was extremely easy to do. A little time consuming, but far less nerve racking and annoying than the first way I tried. When I started, it looked like I had enough tulle to make 2 of the same tutu. I was wrong. It takes a lot of strips to make 1. Especially if you want it to be really full. (Which I did.) I did have some light purple netting that I didn't use and some leftover dark purple and white. I was able to use it to make a second one for her. She's in princess heaven. I actually enjoyed making them this time around. It was what I wanted it to be like yesterday. So, all friends and family out there with little girls, don't be surprised if they get one of these for their birthday or Christmas or just because.

I have no idea how many strips of tulle are in this. Let's just say a lot because it took about an hour and a half to tie all of those on.

I wasn't trying for a racy photo, but she insisted on wearing it without any pants on. Hopefully, you can't see her unmentionables. I'm just so happy that the wings and tutu match so well.

The Most Special-est Queen Avery

I tried tutu hard

I know I said that I had Avery's Halloween costume all ready to go, but I just haven't been loving it. She's going to be a fairy and I originally thought that we could use one of her dance outfits, but what I had in mind just doesn't look right to me. The dress doesn't match the way I think it should and it's been making me crazy. I do still want to use the wings and wand that we bought to "match" the dress. So, today I had the brilliant idea of making a tutu to go with them. Myself. I then thought that I would just buy a white leotard and done. Perfect. The costume would be what I wanted it to be. This idea had headache inducer written all over it.

I know how to sew. I thought, "how hard could it be?" I took the wings to a fabric store and was able to match them to about six colors of tulle. It was even on sale. I thought that surely I was being blessed. I was meant to make this tutu for her. Now, all I had to do was race home and whip out the cutest little tutu. EVER. I looked at several different sites before I actually started. It didn't seem too difficult to make one and they all said it was easy peasy. I felt somewhat confidant and thought, "nothing to it". Wrong, wrong, wrong. Tulle is the devil. It doesn't stay in one place. It has a mind of it's own and I think I heard it laughing at me while I was trying to sew. I cursed a lot and was chastised by Avery for doing so. I told her I was an adult and it's OK if I swear, but if she ever did it she would get her butt beaten off and why didn't she just go in the other room and leave me alone. I pushed on and on and on. The sites said that this was a simple project that would take around 30 minutes to complete. I think I worked on it for about 2 hours. So, after all of the yelling and crying (all from me)was done, I wiped the sweat from my brow to look at the cutest tutu. EVER. Disappointment. What I ended up with looks like something from a Tim Burton movie and not in a good way. It looks terrible. I never want to try to sew with tulle again. Consequently, I now have to try and find a tutu for her from a dance wear store or something like that because I still don't want to use the original costume. Great. Now I really have a headache.

He's so amazing

Ryan understands I have to needlessly sit for hours in front of my computer. He's given me a neutered version to use today. He'll get it completely fixed tonight.

Thanks, my dear. You're so smart. (From my reading of "Strangling Your Husband is Not an Option", I've learned that complimenting your husband is a good thing. Who knew that husbands like to know they're loved? I didn't. In depth analysis of the book coming soon.)

He's even reading books and taking tests about the inner workings of a computer so that he can become even more smart. I wouldn't have a good excuse to ignore all of the things needing to be done around the house if it weren't for him.

Infected again

My computer didn't learn it's lesson. It's gone and got itself infected with spy ware again. Ryan is starting what is sure to be a many days long process of fixing it. I don't know when I'll be up and running again. Grrrrrrr


So, Kristina, please email me via the link on my profile. I should have ways of getting to it during the reconstruction process. We can figure out how to get the gift card to you.

Big bombshells

I woke up this morning feeling patriotic. Why did I feel patriotic you ask? Well, the answer is simple. My contest has come to a close. It is now time for me to purchase a $25 American Express gift card for the winner. (I know. If I were truly prepared, I would already have it in my hot little hands. I've tried to find a $25 one for the past 3 days. NO. STORE. I. WENT.TO. HAD. ONE. Very frustrating. I finally got smart and called one before I drove all the way there and they thankfully had one. I will try to get it tomorrow.) By purchasing the gift card, I'm helping out our troubled economy. My simple act might just be the catalyst that turns us away from a recession. That makes me feel very patriotic. Thank you all who entered. Now, on to the first bombshell.

The big winner! My lips are numb from trying to make a drum roll sound.

Kristina

Now before the accusations start flying that I rigged it because tomorrow is the Meet & Greet and I just wanted to look the best, the answer is NO. She just happened to be random enough to win. On to bombshell #2:

I'm not going to be able to attend the Meet & Greet. So, I won't even get the opportunity to look great in front of strangers. I'm sorry. We've had some things come up and although they will be happening later in the afternoon, I feel it's necessary for me to skip. So, Kristina, you just tell me how you would like to get your fabulous gift and I will make sure that you get it.

Thanks again to all who entered. Just by leaving me a comment in the hopes that I would give you free money, you have made me feel very special.

Say it isn't so!

I've been crying all morning. Sobbing, while curled up in a ball on my bed. I read an article that claims the snuggle bunnies of one of my guilty pleasures are snuggle bunnies no more. What has the world come to if even these two can't make it work? They just seemed to have such a good and strong foundation. I guess looks can be deceiving.

I'm just too likeable

Darn my silly, outgoing, fun, effervescent personality. People just love me so much, they keep tagging me. I can't say that I blame them. I'm so amazing that even I would like to know more about myself. So, because I'm loved so much and I know there are like 3 people dying to read these answers, I've decided to do a couple of tags in one. I hope that you don't go into Christa overload.


Tag #1:

7 Random or weird facts about me

(Now, I tried to upload that tag image from other's blogs, but blogger doesn't like me today and didn't want to do it.)

I've talked about some of these things in other posts. So, I hope there isn't too much repetition involved in this.


1. I can't stand to have hot feet. I get claustrophobic and panicky when it happens. I especially hate it when I'm in bed and they get hot. If it happens, I have to stick them outside of the blankets. The rest of my body can be covered, but not my feet. Therefore, I very rarely wear socks or shoes. My feet have to be really cold to make me feel like I want to put them on.

2. I hate (and when I say hate, I mean HATE) daytime television and awards shows. Daytime television would include: soap operas. No, I have never even liked Days. Not even when I was in Junior High. My mom used to record the Young and the Restless & As the World Turns everyday and then watch it early in the morning. I always wondered why. Another daytime genre: talk shows. Yes, even Oprah. I would say that during the entire run of her show, I've watched a combined total of 2 hours. The greatest length of any one of her shows was a "favorite things" episode and that was only because I was coveting some of the things. All awards shows: this would include the Grammy's, Oscar's, Emmy's (Day & Night), Soul Train Awards, etc. I can sometimes watch some of the pre & red carpet specials, but I only do it to mock the fashions. Having to sit through the actual ceremony would be pure, flat out hell for me.

3. I obsess/worry/dream about my teeth crumbling and falling out. I don't know why I do this. Some dream analysis books say this has something to do with fearing the loss of control. I do fear that. I just like things to be the way I want them. So the books are probably right. I've only ever had 3 cavities in my entire life. They were in baby teeth and fell out. I just seem to have enamel of steel and nothing gets through it. Despite the fact that I worry about losing all of my teeth, I don't get to the dentist nearly often enough.

4. I can't tell you how happy I am that I only need to tell you 7 facts about myself. I love odd numbers and 7 is the most supremely divine and wonderful of them all. I like to spell words out in my head. When I do it, it involves a weird thing with my teeth, but it's too complicated to type out. It's a comfort thing for me to do it. Bobie likes to spell words out also and she likes odd numbers as well. She's smart and she explained the reason for it the best. It gives the word a "middle". For example: blaNket. 3 letters on one side, 3 on the other. This fact is the middle of seven. Sublime.

5. I delight in passively aggressively forcing others to do things.

6. This is probably a little gross, but I tend to like things a bit on the underdone side. No, not poultry. Who wants botulism? I'm not talking about meats. Although, I can eat steak medium rare, and salmon sushi is my favorite. No, I'm talking about baked goods that aren't quite baked through. I like gooey cookies. Bread that isn't quite done. Pancakes as well.

7. I'm not gregarious in any kind of way. Many people have thought that I don't like them because I have a hard time just walking up to someone and starting a conversation. Sorry to have given the wrong impression to some. Believe me, if I didn't like you, it would be really obvious. However, despite the fact that I'm shy, I did follow my now husband to St. George one weekend ten years ago this past May. He kept missing all of my subtle hints that I wanted him to ask me out. When I found out he was going there for a wedding, I magically happened to be going down to visit my grandparents at that same time. We got together to hang out on Saturday night. We talked for hours. I kissed him. He liked it and kissed me back. We got engaged one week later. (Don't worry. We knew each other for about 4 years before this happened.) Maybe I'm not as shy as I think.

Tag #2:

Next tag that I don't have the picture thingy for either.

1. Where is your cell phone? Non-existent

2. Where is your significant other? Work

3. Your hair color? Fake

4. Your mother? Dana

5. Your father? Tracy

6. Your favorite thing? Family

7. Your dream last night? Scary

8. Your dream/goal? Fit

9. The room you're in? Bedroom

10. Your hobby? Artsy

11. Your fear? Tickling

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here

13. Where were you last night? Home

14. What you're not? Patient

15. One of your wish-list items? SLR

16. Where you grew up? WVC

17. The last thing you did? Ate

18. What are you wearing? Crap

19. Your TV? Off

20. Your pet(s)? Gone

21. Your computer? Mine

22. Your mood? Tired

23. Missing someone? Yes

24. Your car? Black

25. Something you're not wearing? Deodorant

26. Favorite store? Lots

27. Your summer? Long

28. Love someone? Yes

29. Your favorite color? Red

30. When is the last time you laughed? Yesterday

31. Last time you cried? Yesterday

I hope that you've found this helpful and informative. Now I tag:

1. My mom - because she doesn't have a blog and won't have to do this.

2. My dad - because he doesn't have a blog and won't have to do this.

3. Paula - because she has a blog, but it's private and no one will be able to see it.

4. Ang - because she has a blog, but it's private and no one will be able to see it.

5. Amanda - because I think that she would hate doing this.

6. Tyler - because I think that he would love doing this.

7. I can't think of a 7th, but I can't leave the most beautiful number of all blank.

"P"ee is for Peyton

Peyton has made a new friend. One he runs too every chance he gets. In fact, I have a hard time keeping the two of them apart. He decided to be sneaky today (and I forgot to close the door) and I heard him go in to play. I ran to stop him, but didn't quite make it. Wouldn't you know it, his friend had a bit of a present waiting for him. Avery didn't totally take care of business the last time she played with the friend. I got to him right after he put both hands in. I'm still dry heaving.