Poor Poor Me!

I woke up today feeling a little down on myself. I thought for a few minutes about all the not so fun things going on and all the great things that are happening to others and not to me. (Nice, huh!) My daydreaming was stopped quickly as I had two hungry children who thought they were STARVING and would die if they didn't eat something NOW. So, into my kitchen I go, still a little grumpy. As I reach to grab something, I see the tile sitting on my counter. It reads:

In all of living

have much fun

and laughter.

Life is to be enjoyed, not

just endured.

Pres. Hinckley

I realized that I was being extremely selfish having a pity party for myself, especially because it wasn't even 8 in the morning yet! So, I told myself that I would have a great day and try to enjoy life a little more. Not always easy when there are piles of laundry to wash and dishes overflowing in the sink. To help myself out, I want to make a gratitude list whenever I find myself just enduring life :)

1. I am grateful for my husband who works hard to support our family. Thanks honey!!

2. I am grateful for my kids who always love me, even when I am a little grumpy and maybe not being the nicest.

3. I am grateful for my bed...it is so comfortable. There is nothing like a good nights rest! I just got a new bed set, so it's really pretty, too!

4. I am grateful for my sister...she already has 5 people in her house and yet she still let 4 more come and stay with her for 2 months. Need I say more?? Wish we were closer again!

5. I am grateful for El Porton salsa...there is nothing in the world like it. YUM!!

6. I am grateful for all my Rexburg friends who helped me survive school. I wish we could all live close together again!

7. I am grateful for washing machines, dryers, and dishwashers because as much as I complain about housework, I don't even want to think about what it would be like without them!

8. I am grateful for good books to read. Thank you Stephenie Meyer for writing the Twilight series...and thank you Mandy for telling me about it! Can't wait for the next one.

9. I am grateful for my beautiful apartment to live in...and the cheap rent makes it even better! :)

10. I am grateful for the Dollar Spot at Target...who doesn't love that?

This is just the start of my list...what are you grateful for today?

I have been neglecting my family...

On a recent Costco trip, I hit the jackpot! I happened to see a 5 Disc Collector's Edition of Anne of Green Gables. I have been wanting to get this for a long time, but they only had it on VHS when I saw it before. You can imagine my delight and just picture me squealing with excitement as I quickly grabbed one up for me. (An old lady thought I had lost my mind, no doubt.) I have spent every second I can watching all the DVD's and just finished them tonight. I must say that I love those movies just as much now as I did 20 years ago when they first came out. And now I have Kelsi addicted! We have had lots of mother/daughter bonding time while watching the silly antics of "Anne with an e". Does anyone out there love Anne and Gilbert as much as I do?

Happy Spring!!

I have been a loser at blogging lately...I have kept up on everyone else of course, just felt that I had nothing exciting to write about. Hopefully this post will make my sister and sister in law happy! :) Do you love my flowers? I do!! Yes, I bought them for myself, but they were just screaming Spring Time to me and calling my name. So what have we been up to lately? Let's see...
We bought a new tent! We had a great one from my parents that died on a camping trip last summer, so we figured we need a new one. Dave thought it would be fun to put it up in our living room. It was a little bigger than we thought. There is a whole other part that goes onto the front which would not fit. Dave and the kiddos slept in it, while I relished the quiet and space of my big empty bed! We can't wait to really camp in it at Leavenworth!
This picture is so cute, does it need an explanation? Well okay then. We are potty training Andrew currently and instead of washing a ton of clothes, he has been loving wearing just his birthday suit! (Another reason for the lack of posts...this kid is taking his time figuring out the whole toilet thing.) Anyways, I was doing something in the other room and came into the kitchen to see this cute little bum...sneaking chocolate chips while he thought mommy was too busy to notice! I quickly ran to get the camera...how could I resist??

Our lives have settled down a bit. Moving twice in as many months, a new job, new church callings (don't ask!) and missing our friends and family who we have moved away from. Pretty ordinary. Of course, I love the ordinary most of the time! Is that a country music song??

Momma's little boy!

This morning after we took Kelsi to school, I told Andrew that he could choose something to do today with just him and mommy. I offered ideas like coloring, playing with playdoh, trains, cars...and he just sat there thinking about what we could do. I told him to come and let me know when he had decided what he wanted to do. A few minutes later he came and found me in the kitchen and this is exactly what he said- "Mom, I think we need to go to Target today and go shopping. Will that make you happy?" I told him that yes it would, but we could do anything he wanted to do. Then he said, "Yep, I think Target shopping would make me happy too! Can we go?"

So, there you have it. Have I created a monster or what?? Kelsi hates shopping, but Andrew just can't get enough of it! Guess we will go see if there are any new Cars at Target today!

Beware of children being too quiet...

This afternoon I was enjoying a great session of Conference. My children were being quiet and letting me listen! Then this happened...Andrew was quite happy that he had colored with a permanent Sharpie all over his face and hand!!
I think he was going for the pirate look.

They're Back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New Kids on the Block!

I was their biggest fan back in the day! Just ask my poor family who had to listen to me listen to and obsess over them constantly!! I went to two of their concerts...one time I even slept outside in a line for tickets. (Thanks dad for being so patient with your crazy daughter and her friends!) My walls were covered with pictures from BOP and other old school magazines, I think I owned anything and everything they sold with their name on it. Was it really almost 20 years ago? Wow, time flies! This morning on the Today show, they announced a reunion tour and album coming out this summer. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20188682,00.html

I told Dave if they come anywhere near Washington, I am there!! He just rolled his eyes at me, the way my dad used to when I would tell him I wanted to go see them. Some things never change!!!

Donnie was my favorite....who was yours??

NKOTB, I'll be loving you Forever!!

Spring Break in Yakivegas, Baby!

Kelsi has told us about a million times this week that it is Spring Break and when it is Spring Break you are supposed to GO somewhere. Well, until today the farthest we have gone is Grandma's house, a few blocks away. Since Kelsi was feeling so deprived, this afternoon we decided to head over to the Family Fun Center for some Go Kart riding and bumper boats. We had a blast!

Kelsi and daddy...before we started racing!
Andrew was making sure he was buckled in good because he wanted to go "faster than fast," like Lightning McQueen. He is a huge fan of the movie Cars.
Getting ready to ride the Bumper Boats...aren't they adorable? A funny side note...when the kid was pushing Kelsi and me off the side to go, he fell in the water!!! I tried so hard to not laugh at him!
We had tons of fun bumping into each others boats and also squirting water onto each other. We will come do this again when it's frying hot in the summer!
All Andrew wanted to do inside the arcade was ride the horse. This smile on his face was before we noticed the sign that read out of order! :(

We had a fun afternoon..what did you do for Spring Break?