Don't you hate

• When you think school for your kindergartner starts on August 31st because you knew "something" was happening on that day and so you just assume that it's the first day of school. So, you've been telling your kindergartner for pretty much the whole summer that school will start on August 31st. Then you find out at their assessment test that the 31st is actually just an orientation day. They will get to go to the school and walk through it and do an art project in their classroom and all of this will only take about an hour and then they get to go home.
• When you go into your bathroom, do your business and then find that there's no toilet paper on the roll. Worse, there's none in the bathroom or anywhere within your reach. So, the only way to get anymore is to call your husband to bring you some. However, you don't want to do this because you don't want to hear him say again "Why don't you ever check if there's toilet paper before you actually go?" Because then you have to tell him to shut up, just give you the stupid roll of toilet paper, be nice to you and leave you alone.
• When you get in the shower and begin the getting clean process, only to discover you've left your shampoo and conditioner in another bathroom you decided to shower in the day before. Worse, your husband isn't around to call and ask to bring it to you because it's a weekday. He's at work already. So, your only choice is to get out of the shower, dry off some and go downstairs to get your stuff. Thereby getting cold and the floor all the way there wet in the process.

I say all this hypothetically, of course.

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What's on the menu today: Crock Pot Italian Chicken. I told you, I really love my crock pot.

An addition

Something to add to my Stuff that makes me happy list.

This stuff is amazing and all other kinds of deodorant can't even compare. They seem like child's play next to this "clinical" stuff. I hardly ever feel sweaty when I use it.

*Note: if you've clicked over here from "somewhere", you need to read this post. I will be pointing out my excessive neediness and referring back to this for the next couple of days. Thank you. Oh, and just to clarify, I do know that the number of hits and the number of comments never correlate. I don't mind. I DON'T CARE AND I DON'T NEED THEM TO. ☺ I just want to know, at least once who some of the people who are looking are. Know what I mean? I would like to know because I'm pretty sure that if I don't know them personally, I at least know of them. I'm not trying to up my comment numbers. I'm NOT about that. I'm just excessively, ridiculously curious at the moment. I just wanted to make that clear.

How long will I last?

I've been on a "I'm going to grow my hair long" kick. I generally keep my hair on the shorter side, but every few years I decide I'm going to try to grow it out. Usually, I decide to do it out of spite. Spite for Ryan. He says that my hair has looked the same for the past 11 years. Hello! It has not. It changes all the time. Growing it out is my way of proving it changes.

It's getting quite long and glamorous. (Everyone who knows me and sees me often, just snorted.) I could star in a shampoo commercial. The kind where they swing their heads back and forth and run their fingers through it in slow motion. You know, to show you how rich, strong, long and full of body it is. Yes. That's me.

*Note: If you've clicked over here from somewhere, you need to read this post. I will be pointing out my excessive neediness and referring back to the post for the next couple of days. Thank you.

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What's on the menu today: Smothered Pork Chops. Another crock pot recipe. Ahh, crock pot. I love thee so very much.

Friday tunes

In the grand tradition of motherboard, (who I read all the time but have never left a comment for, shame on me) I created a play list of sorts. I turned on my iPod, shook it to give it a little shuffle and these are the 10 songs it came up with for me.

1. Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

2. King of Pain - Alanis Morissette from Alanis Unplugged

3. Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman - Bryan Adams from the Don Juan DeMarco Soundtrack

4. Die Zauberflote, Opera K 620 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

5. My Hero - Foo Fighters

6. Fix You - Coldplay

7. Fragile - Sting

8. Respect - Aretha Franklin

9. Good Love Is On The Way - John Mayer

10. The White Tree - London Oratory School Scholars/London Philharmonic Orchestra from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Soundtrack. Mmmmmmm......Viggo.

This post is my own attempt to come out of the blog stalker closet. I haven't linked back to motherboard using her Mr. Linky, but I'm thinking I will leave my first ever comment there today. See, if I can do it, you can too. See below.

*Note: If you've clicked over here from somewhere, you need to read this post. I will be pointing out my excessive neediness and referring back to the post for the next couple of days. Thank you.

A slight revision

I need to make a revision to my previous statements about comments and the leaving of them. My position is basically still the same. Sort of. You see, I have a stat counter and I see how you're being referred here. I said that like Hayley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense. All whispery and creepy like. I know where you're coming from, but I don't know who you are. The curiosity is really starting to get to me.

For example, I sometimes have multiple referrals a day from the Granite High blog. If you're coming from there, that must mean that we knew each other at some point. Even if you hated me 15 years ago, it's really okay with me if you hate me now and want to tell me. Just tell me who you are. Pretty please. Or, you can tell me how amazing I was and am, I am from Planet Awesome after all. Or, you can just tell me "hi". (Because we all know the awesome stuff isn't true.) You know, maybe just once and then you never have to again. I'd just like to know who you are. You can also tell me to shove it and to quit groveling for validation. ☺ That works too.

Other referrals come from links on the blogs of friends. Like from Kristen, Angelique (who's private), Dionne , The Boob Nazi, Jillene and others, but from these most often. That's right, I'm looking at you. You didn't know I could tell that, did you? ☺ If you're coming from those places, do we know each other? Maybe we're slightly acquainted. Maybe you've heard ridiculous stories about me from these people and thought you'd check out the source. It's really okay to say hi and tell me who you are. Even if it's just one time. I sometimes look at the blogs of those who leave comments on my friends blogs. So, I've most likely read yours. I'm just saying. (Just know that this little pep talk is for my benefit as well. I need to quit being a scaredy cat and try leaving a comment every once in a while on those I stalk. Like those from Granite High. Yeah, I've been looking at yours too. ☺)

I've made it really easy for anyone to leave a comment because I allow anonymous comments. That's right, anonymous comments. It would work a little something like this:

In the comment box you type: comment, comment, comment, comment. Signed, (your name here). Then you click anonymous and publish comment and you're done. Then I can stop being a dweeby dork-wad and wondering who all of you are.

How easy is that?

One last thing, the post I did about my heart and the other one about Fritos are still the ones that give me the most hits. That is just so silly to me. Especially the Fritos one.

There. Now I've said it. If you want to leave comments, fine. If you don't, that's fine too................................

Excuse me. I had to suppress a sob. It would just be kind of fun to hear from whoever "you" are. Now I'm over this and will never mention it again.

Disclaimer: Just so you know, I've been feeling extra agitated, anxious and needy lately. I don't know why. It just happens sometimes. Thus, the reason for this ridiculous post. I'll get over it eventually. So, if you don't want too, you really don't have to leave comments.

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What's on the menu today: Sloppy Joe's. Now, I take the lazy man's approach to this. I use Manwich. I happen to like it very much. Today, I plan on first browning the meat and then putting it all together in the crock pot to simmer for a few hours. My hope is that it will make everything that much more tender and flavorful. Well, and make it seem like I did a little more than just open a can.

P.S. Last night's dinner was really delish. On a whim, I made a couple of changes to it rather than doing it the usual way. You can see the revised recipe here.

Moisturization

A couple of weeks ago, I bought the moisturizing body wash that coordinates with my deodorant and body spray. I'm scent layering, or something like that.

I like the smell and all, what I don't like is the way it makes my skin feel. What? I thought the wonderful way it made your skin feel was the #1 reason for using a body wash. To me, it just seems so slimy. My showers have become twice as long because I spend so much time trying to rinse off the "rich moisturizers that leave your skin feeling soft and silky'. I want my skin to feel clean after a shower. Not slippery.

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Yesterday, while driving in the car, Avery suddenly decided that she needed to use the bathroom and she needed to use it really BAD. We were close to home and so I asked to her to please try and hold it. She started whimpering and whining and say "ow..ow..ow..I have to go really bad". She got herself worked up into a right good fit. I tried my best to calm her down, but listening to her made me suddenly have to go too. Good bladder control isn't really something I have anymore. I have had 4 kids after all. Listening to her, just made it worse for me. I actually felt like acting the exact same way. So, I had to roll down all the windows and drive really fast so the wind would drown out her whining and help me forget that I had to go too. I know you wanted to hear that. (Whoever is reading.) You're welcome.

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What's on the menu today: Creamy Vegetable Soup served with wheat bread, of course.

I'm all set

Halloween costumes are purchased. Thank goodness. Thanks Heather , for the offer of the costumes. I was going to take you up on it because I couldn't find a dog costume online that Avery liked. Then, we were at Costco yesterday, and she saw some Disney Princess costumes. She said, "oh wow! I want to be one of those!" She chose Snow White because that makes sense with her light blond hair. I tried to talk her into Aurora, but she was having none of that. ☺ They had animal costumes for only $10 and I found a cow one for Peyton. I chose it mainly because he could say cow, but couldn't say giraffe. One of the other animals they had.

Tyler and Cameron decided on Luigi and Mario respectively and I ordered them this morning. They should be here sometime next week. I've never really done coordinating costumes. It happened on accident the year Tyler was Harry Potter and Cameron was a spider. It was around the time the "Chamber of Secrets" movie came out. It was just a happy accident that I kind of pretended was my idea all along. I thought about having Avery be Dora and Peyton go as Boots this year when I was having trouble finding a "puppy dog" costume. Unfortunately, the only good Boots costume I could find was over $40 + shipping. No thank you. That's just too much money to spend on a child's costume that will never be worn again. Anyway, I'm done. Ahhhh! Now I can relax. (And stop talking about Halloween costumes. ☺)

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What's on the menu today: Burrito Casserole. This is one my kids will gobble up (relatively speaking) without much complaining.

Assessing Avery

Avery had her assessment test with her kindergarten teacher this morning. Around here, kindergarten begins a week later than the other grades. Is it that way everywhere? I don't remember it being like that when I was in school. It probably was and I just don't remember. ☺ I was very surprised to find it out when Tyler started. I was all set for him to start on a certain date and had my hopes and dreams crushed. So cruel. Anyway, Avery will actually begin school on September 1st. She's really looking forward to it. Uhh...ME TOO!

She did alright with the test. I'm pretty sure she knows a whole lot more then she let on. She kind of teased a little bit and acted coy. Stinker! Cameron did the same thing at his test and by the end of the year, he was reading at a third grade level. I'm not worried about Avery.

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Last night, while in the bathtub, Peyton discovered something that has changed his life forever. He stood up, peed in the water and then said in a surprised and extremely delighted voice, "Oh! A toilet!"

Just thought you'd like to know.

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What's on the menu today: Chicken Pot Pie. I really like this one and highly recommend it.

It's that time of year again

It's time to start shopping for Halloween costumes. You thought I was going to say "back to school". Didn't you? Yes, that did happen today and Tyler and Cameron handled it pretty okay. They were annoyed when they realized I intended to walk to school with them, taking pictures all along the way. Tyler's response when I told him, "ugh! Do you plan on following us all the way to high school?" I told him, "ummm....duh! Of course."

Cameron had a bit of a freak out once we got there. It's a long story that I won't go into here, but he's doing better now (I assume, since I'm not with him) and should be just fine.

Anyway, since it's August, it's time to start thinking about Halloween. As you know, if you want to get anything good, you have to start shopping now. I'm actually a little ashamed that it's already the 24th of August and I'm just barely starting.

Since Peyton is still little, I get to decide for him. I'm thinking he's going to be a dinosaur because he thinks they're ultra cool. Although, he was a dragon last year and that's close to a dinosaur. So, I might change my mind, but the final decision will be made today. Avery wants to be a dog. Excuse me, a "puppy dog". I'm not sure what I'm going to do just yet. I bought a pattern for a "puppy dog" costume a couple of years ago. I'm just not sure I'm ambitious enough to attempt to make it on my own. We'll see if I can find one to buy. If I can, my decision of whether or not to make it will be made.

Tyler and Cameron are still undecided. I'm going to insist that they decide by today and then get them ordered. Target has a good selection this year. I love shopping for costumes online. It saves me so much time and trouble. Pointing and clicking is so easy.

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Here's what's on the menu today: Chicken Fingers, mashed potatoes and buttermilk biscuits. We're having our own little, homemade KFC meal tonight.

Taking strides

In an effort to be better organized, I have finally started planning out my menus. Yeah, I only said I wanted to do this about 4 months ago. I've planned about 3 weeks out now. Holy cow is it a freeing feeling. It makes it so much easier to shop when I am shopping for specific meals. I usually shop with dinner ideas in mind, but no real specific idea of when I planned to make something. Therefore, I end up buying a lot of the same things over and over and then making the same dishes over and over as well. With what I have planned so far, I don't think we'll end up having the same thing twice in one month. Who knew I had so many recipes to draw from.

I've typed up the menu and it's hanging on the refrigerator. Now everyone knows what to expect. So, what's on the menu.

Today: French Dip Sandwiches. I put a pot roast in a crock pot and season it with salt, pepper, garlic powder, 1 can of French Onion soup, Better Than Bouillon Beef Base (abt. 2 tsp.) and add enough water to come a little bit more than halfway up the roast. Cook it on low for 10-12 hours, or on high for about 8. Remove the roast and shred it. Use the liquid in left in the crock pot as the au jus dipping sauce. Serve on hard rolls.

Tomorrow: Chicken & Wild Rice. You can find the recipe here. It's another crock pot recipe. I absolutely love my crock pot. I think it's one of the best inventions of the last century. I use it all the time.

Amazing

Today, I did something absolutely amazing and totally uncharacteristic. I resisted buying chocolate covered cinnamon bears. I know. Gasp! Now, that's not to say that I didn't greedily snatch them up and put them in my cart the instant I saw them. I did. I walked around with them for a bit, staring at them the whole time and waging a tumultuous inner battle. I wanted them so badly. I was imagining how magical it would be to eat all of them, all by myself. Mine, mine, mine! Hooray! I was also imagining the numbers on my scale going back up and that's not what makes me happy. I had to decide if the agony of seeing that was worth the ecstasy of eating them. No, it was not. I put them back and walked away. I then had to pay for my items and leave the store right away so I wouldn't be tempted to run back and buy them.

I really love my dad

A conversation that took place this morning between Avery and myself:

Avery: "Mom, I really love my dad! I miss him so much when he goes to work." (Everyday, when Ryan comes home, Avery runs up to him and says, "Daddy I missed you so much today!" I don't think he likes it or anything. ☺)

Me: "Why do you love your dad so much?"

Avery: "Because he has super soft cheeks that I love to kiss and kiss and kiss."

Stuff that makes me happy

• The smell of laundry detergent and fabric softener. The smell of clean and fresh is the best.
• Ryan's nose, forehead, ears and the back of his head. They're just so darn cute.
• Avery's goodnight routine with her dad. They have to kiss each other on each cheek and the forehead and it must be done in a certain order. As per Avery.
• Strolling through the streets of Paris with Ryan.
• Watching water from a sprinkler sparkle in the sunlight.
• Listening to my kids talking, laughing, playing and pretending.
• Chasing my baby. He's getting really naughty, terrible 2's and all. Consequently, I chase him a lot.
• Sharing Time in Primary. Especially when the kids enjoy it and participate.
• Shopping at Costco. I'm easily seduced by bulk items.
• The slurping noise Avery makes when she sucks her thumb. Not only is she not ready to give up doing it, I don't think I'm ready for her to give it up either.
• Baking bread. I've been doing it at least twice a week since January and I still get a little thrill every time I take a loaf out of the oven.
• Going to the temple.
• A good movie. The kind that you can't stop thinking about.
• A good book. Same reason as the movies.
• Being able to help others.
• Being teased and made fun of by Ryan. (Well, usually. ☺)
• Listening to Peyton talk. He says more and more everyday. He's funny too. The stuff he says makes me laugh.
• Back to school preparations. ☺
• Seeing the numbers on the scale go down rather than up.
• Sitting outside at twilight, listening to birds chirp and sing.
• Freshly cut grass. Not necessarily the smell of it, although it is nice. It's more the way the grass looks. So clean and manicured.
• A freshly mopped floor.
• Cooking a dinner that nobody complains about and they eat and then even want seconds.
• The smell and feel of new school clothes. I love how the jeans are so stiff and starchy.
• Cottage cheese with fruit on it for breakfast.
• My family.

Some things I would love Pt. 2

I've made a list like this before. I think it's time to do it again. These are listed in no particular order.

• To never have to shave my legs again. It would be so magical to have them stay soft and smooth forever.
• For my toilets to be self cleaning. Does such a toilet even exist? I feel certain there is one out there. Somewhere.
• To have my own personal, in house flour tortilla maker. Not a machine. A person who would make them by hand. I am so addicted to them. I like to eat them like you would a slice of bread. This brand is my current favorite. I can't exactly explain why. I just love them oh so much. I think I'll go eat one right now.
• For all the blinds in my house to get dusted. By someone other than me.
• For Brett Favre to retire and stay retired. For good. Enough already Brett. You're starting to look really sad.
• For Peyton to potty train himself, preferably before the age of 2. Come on Peyton. You've got until September 27th. You can do it! (We haven't even begun to try, but if he follows in the footsteps of his brothers, he'll be trained by the time he's 31/2.)
• To win a free trip anywhere in the world. I think you all know where I would choose to go. Paris.
• For my husband to be willing to do something like this for me. Although, he is my brother in law. I might be able to talk him into it. If I can't talk him into it, I know his wife would make him.
• For flies to drop dead as soon as they cross the threshold of my door. Darn kids leave the doors open all the time and let the little buggers in.
• To be less anxious. Yeah, I work on this one every. single. day.
• A new light fixture for my dining room. The one I currently have bit the dust.
• Better fashion sense.
• To stop snoring.

They eat us out of house and home

I'm pretty sure once my kids go back to school, my grocery bill will be cut in half. They eat from the time they wake up until they go to bed at night. Non-stop eating machines they are. Once they go back to school, they'll only be able to eat from the time they get home in the afternoon until they go to bed at night. They like to eat breakfast at school and lunch is obviously there too. It's cheaper to pay for them to eat those two meals at school then it is for them to eat at home. I know, I know. I could try to be budget conscious and clip coupons to save money, but I'm really kind of just too lazy for that.

I shudder to think what the bill will be like when they're teenagers.

I want to say I'm excited

Tonight is our ward camp out. Hooray! I'm so excited. Camping isn't really my thing. I'll do overnighters like this, but anything extended, like 2 nights, is just too much for me. It's not because I hate nature and the beauty and grandeur of it. I just prefer to marvel at it from the comfort of my couch while watching it on my big screen television. Or, being out in it and returning to my hotel at the end of the day. Hotels, to me, are camping. Oh, and for the record, I don't hate camping because I'm not an outdoorsy kind of girl. I can handle myself just fine in the wild. I just hate having to literally pack up my house so I can go sit somewhere and stare at a fire. Now, on to the next reason I dislike camping.

I HATE the smell of campfire. Let me say that again, I HATE the smell of campfire. In fact, I don't think I can overstate this fact enough so, I will say it again. I HATE the smell of campfire. The first thing I will be doing tomorrow when we get home: washing all of the clothes and blankets we took with us. I'll probably wash them a couple of times too. The nasty campfire smell tends to linger. Once those are in the washer, I'll be scrubbing the smell off of myself and everyone else. Eau de campfire is not an intoxicating aroma on any one's skin.

Once this trip is over (24 hours won't be able to pass fast enough in my book), I will have completed my outdoor camping obligations for the year. My next trip (to Disneyland) will be the real kind of camping. The civilized, hotel kind.

I blame Betty Crocker

Perhaps you remember that a can of Betty Crocker frosting fell out of my fridge and attacked my foot a few weeks back. It hurt when it happened, maybe even bringing a tear to my eye. I walked it off and then felt fine. I went on with life which included sitting on my couch and watching a movie with my kids. The movie lasted a couple of hours and when I stood up, I couldn't put much pressure on my foot. It really hurt. I checked for bruises, but there was absolutely no visible sign of injury. I massaged it and worked it out, but by the time I went to bed it was hurting pretty darn bad. I woke up at 1:00 a.m. to use the bathroom and couldn't walk on it at all. It felt like a nerve had been severed. I had to crawl to the bathroom and by the time I got back to my bed I was bawling because it hurt like a blankety blank son of a bee sting. I was a mess and wanted Ryan to do something to fix it. Now, I knew there was realistically nothing he could do, but I wanted him to be Superman. He was trying to be nice and calm me down. I was more interested in being nasty. He asked me how in the world I could handle childbirth without drugs, but I couldn't handle a little bump to the foot. I told him to shut up. He had no idea what it felt like to have a practically full can of frosting fall 4 feet and land his foot.

Now the point of this long story that I originally said was too long to tell: Betty Crocker threw off my exercise routine. The can fell on my foot on a Saturday. I had exercised on Friday and planned to on Saturday night. It didn't happen. My foot felt fine on Monday and so I tried to exercise. I had some stabbing, nerve like pain and so I decided to stop. I waited a couple of days and tried again. Same thing happened. So, I waited about a week and a half before doing anything else. My foot felt fine then, but the deed was done. My schedule was messed up and I let myself get lazy. Yesterday I determined to get myself back on track. I exercised last night and again tonight. My break was long enough. I'm getting kind of squishy again and I don't like it.

In just 2 weeks

I'm not prepared. At all. I'm usually pretty good about shopping throughout the summer. Some pants here, a shirt there, but I've got nothin and it didn't dawn on me that I had nothin until this weekend. Great.

Happy Birthday My Boy!

Happy 33rd Birthday Ryan! Today, we are the same age. (At least until November when I'll pass you up again. Jerk!) You are a wonderful husband, father and friend and you take all of those jobs very seriously. Thanks for being a fantastic provider. You are such a hard worker. I truly appreciate you and don't know what I did to deserve you. I hope today is a beautiful one for you. I love you!

No, he's not crying

Ever since he was born, Peyton has had very weepy eyes. He almost always looks like he's crying. People will say stuff like"oh, what's wrong? Are you sad?" The answer is usually no. They just run. All.the.time. They get infected often because things kind of back up in there and generally look red and irritated. His pediatrician said it was most likely due to blocked tear ducts, but hoped that they would open up on their own by the time he was one. He hoped that because they usually do. Well, that didn't happen. They were still running by the time he was one. I forgot to have him check and see if they opened up yet at his one year appointment. I finally remembered to have him look at his 21 month one. Yep, they're still plugged and will not ever open up on their own. So, what's the next step? The pediatrician referred me to an optometry specialist. We saw him and he confirmed the diagnosis. His tear ducts are plugged in his sinuses. You have ducts that drain from your top and bottom lid and come together at a junction in the corner of your eye, close to your nose. If you push there, you'll notice that's it's kind of squishy, like a water balloon. From that point, the ducts run down your sinuses and drain there. There's a membrane at the bottom of this duct and it's the one that is blocked.

He has surgery scheduled for August 11th. It's going to be a very simple, maybe 30 minute procedure. He has to be under general anesthesia because in the words of the doctor, it would be "hellish to try and do it on a child his size without it". The doctor will run a probe down the duct and poke through the membrane. Once he breaks through, he's going to push a small, finger like bone in the nose out of the way. This is just another guarantee that all obstructions will be removed. The only visible sign that anything was done is the possibility of having a bloody nose. That's it. No extensive recovery period or anything. I'm really looking forward to it for Peyton's sake. Hopefully, he won't have to deal with constantly red and irritated eyes after.

Because Ryan has wanderlust

And our kids complained loud enough and long enough that we never take them on vacations, we have decided to take them to Disneyland. We'll be going in October over UEA (Utah Education Association, at least I think that's what it stands for) weekend. Otherwise known as Utahans Exodus to Anaheim. It should be fun. The kids have never been there and it's been 10 years since the last time I was.

Yes, they are already driving me crazy over it.