Happy Lucky Seven Anniversary!

Has it really been 7 years?!! I like the picture above because I of course trip down the stairs at the exit of the Salt Lake temple.

We went to The Roof restaurant and had a great view of the Salt Lake Temple. We were also able to see the Mormon Tabernacle concert.

The most romantic gifts ever ... For me .. Gnomeo and Juliet. I'm already a yard 'accessory' collector and this takes it to a WHOLE 'Nother LEVEL!

For Pete .. In concert with the BEST singer song writer of ALL TIMES. Neil Diamond here we come!

Bountiful Wind Storm

There were record wind speeds a week after Thanksgiving (95 mph in Bountiful!). The windstorm made national news! KSL article. We were without power for 44 hours. It was amazing how much we rely on electricity! Good thing I had a smart phone or else I would have felt REALLY cut off. Our heater uses gas, but the blower uses electricity. So we didn't have heat and our house quickly dropped to about 55 degrees that first night. Pete got the kitchen fire going and we had it up to about 67 by the time we went to bed. I went to my parents the next day and slept over my sister-in-laws house that night. My mom was on her stake emergency preparedness committee and gives us emergency prepardness items for christmas. We did pull out the 1,000 hour candle and the solar powered emergency radio.

The power came back on and we were SO glad to be back at home. But it didn't stop there. Our street alone lost 16 50-year-old trees. Pete was out all day Saturday and even Sunday cleaning up fallen trees and branches. They canceled church so that there would be more time for cleanup before another possible storm. Deseret article on the Sunday clean-up.

So did we get any damage? Yes, our 25ft flag pole that was staked in the ground by 36 strands of christmas lights snapped in half. You can see in the picture that the deer and santa look like a war zone. We tried to salvage what we could, but the ground was already frozen and we couldn't stake anything new into the ground. It was sad because there were a lot of people showing up to our house for a show. It will be up and going next year!!

I think what I learned from the wind storm and power outage how quickly circumstances can change with a disaster (this was a small one). We did go out and buy a generator prior to the second storm because we didn't want to have to leave our house again. We still had gas and running water, so we'll have to think through our recovery strategy for both of those!

Christmas Decor

So, I am a little crazy ... or maybe a LOT crazy ...

When we were starting to talk to contractors for our exterior remodel I got REALLY excited when they said we could vault the ceiling in the Living room. Pete saw the glint and my eyes and knew it meant only one thing ... I was imagining a BIGGER Christmas tree.

Well, it required removing the roof, one custom curved steel beam and new dry wall, roof, etc .. and our Living room was ready for my new TREE!

By Day ...

By Night ...

I didn't get a picture of all of our trees. Here's my entry from last year. The only changes were we added another tree for Amelia (a PURPLE tree!). I also created a Jim Henson Wreath. It's already put away, but I'm tempted to get it out of the cover to get a picture of it. Ah well, we'll have to wait until next year. We also had a Christmas Carnival display with a Circus train. Again, I'll post a video next year!

Shelf of German Junk!

A new shelf to display Nutcrackers, matryoshkas, and nativities GALORE!

I only got this video of the Christmas Light show display. Sadly, our light show was only up for a week because of the wind storm. Excuse the background sniffles, I had a cold when I shot the video and meant to retake it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I realize why I have been slacking with my blog ... we were really busy this Fall!

Thanksgiving was a LOT of fun. I think looking at the pictures it was more fun now than at the time. Both Pete and I had come down with a really bad cold, but we went ahead and showed up at family functions .. tried not to get anyone else sick.

Pete and Phillip got to have two football games. One in the morning after breakfast with the Olsens, and one at a park with the Wirthlin family. The Thanksgiving meal was great as always. I made the southern sweet potato casserole, apple pie, and 'my' green bean casserole. It's funny how you get 'type cast' with certain dishes.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we went to Breakfast with Santa! The kids loved it! Phillip especially LOVED it! He kept saying, "This is the best breakfast ever!" I think because he could have as much bacon as he wanted .. 11 pieces. My favorite part was the hot chocolate bar (there was REAL chocolate in it), the Santa photo shoot where they gave me the digital image (Christmas card RESCUE!), and really fancy coke bottles. I kept asking for more, then later explained to the waiter that I wanted to add the coke bottles to my coke Christmas tree!

Happy Rainbow Party Pete!

Well, Amelia and Lily couldn't decide on a 'color' for Pete's birthday party theme. They decided he needed ALL of the colors! Thus, the "Rainbow Birthday Party" for Pete. I think I went a little overboard, but Pete was a good sport.

We went to St. George over Pete's birthday weekend. It was a great day of hanging out at Becca and Paul's house. Becca was cooking non-stop all weekend. It was a very relaxing weekend. We even went to the "Glitter Hole" which is a pit of gypsum. The kids got to collect the 'glittery' rock.

My Purple Girl! Amelia!

Amelia came up with her own Birthday theme this year. It was a PURPLE birthday party! (Weeks prior she kept changing the color, but I was able to get her to stick to one color). I think Amelia's purple designation started this spring when I got Lily & Amelia easter outfits, Lily=Pink Amelia=Purple. It's kind of translated to their room decor (pink and purple christmas trees), slippers, and piggy banks, etc. When asked, "whose birthday is it?" she would say, "My purple birday pawdee!!"

Amelia is a good little helper. It's amazing what she is able to do on her own. She is very ARTISTIC! She can wield a sharpie like no other. She did cover our couches, walls, end tables with her original art. Below is a picture of her all tuckered out after coloring my bathroom with lip and eye liner. She has a determined independent spirit. Her new saying is, "I do it MYSELF!"

Amelia, Lily, and their cousins Brinklee and Bryndee are all in purple dresses! I would like to say that I made the dresses myself.. but no .. Pete's mom made the dresses and the girls all wanted to wear them for the party!

Christmas Recap

What a GREAT christmas we had! It was so sweet to have a brand new baby at home over Christmas. I was feeling pretty good and the kids were SO excited to have their baby brother home. Below is a picture of the kids SHOWERING Henrie with love. Phillip told me that he didn't want anything for christmas because he already got what he wanted ... a baby brother. But, on Christmas eve, he decided he wanted more ;-)

We went to Pete's Parents house for dinner, nativity, singing with the bells and much more fun! Henrie was the perfect baby Jesus.

It was nice to have everything done before the baby was born. I went to bed on Christmas eve at midnight! (it's usually 1 or 2 AM). Santa was nice enough to leave a note for the kids. You could tell it was from Santa because the edges were burned.

Phillip's Favorite part was "the whole entire day." When asked for specifics, he said, "EVERYTHING, I liked EVERYTHING about christmas." I think he was pretty excited to get the Nintendo Wii. It was an impulse buy, but Phillip and Pete played Lego Indiana Jones for 2 and half hours without noticing the time go by!

Lily's favorite part was when she opened presents, and Daddy opened presents, and everyone had their OWN presents. She said when opening a present, "OH Daddy you are SO Sweet!"

Amelia's favorite part was her big and little Lalaloopsy. When asked before christmas she would say, "My favowate pawt is TEENY TINY Lalaloopsy!!"

My favorite part was that both Pete and I gave each other foot baths. I know we are both a little weird, but at least we think alike!

Pete's favorite part was just staying home and being lazy with the family. First time we have stayed home on Christmas day and it was GREAT! I think we will also continue with my last minute meal plan. French Onion Soup and Fondue for dinner. It is comfort food, but it doesn't take too much effort to prepare.

I didn't get too many photographs this year, but I guess that means I was enjoying myself too much! Enjoy!

The kids and their early Christmas present!

Lily & Santa Henrie on Christmas Day

Amelia and her favorite item from Santa from her Stocking.

Phillip enjoying his Matchbox Race Track

Lily and all her new princesses, and Tangled bookshelf.

His and Hers Foot Bath!

Henrie, tired after a long day of sleeping and eating, had to sack out on the couch next to Homer.

Welcome Henrie!

We are pleased to announce the birth of Henrie McEntire Olsen.

He weighed 6 pounds and 10 oz, 19 inches.

He looks a lot like Phillip as a baby. A little peanut!

I have most of the day with the baby, me, and my iPad. Maybe I'll finally get a chance to catch up on the happenings since October!

Halloween Party

Well, I'm glad to say we successfully hosted our 4th Annual Halloween Family Party. It was a blast!

There was dancing! -- Here's Pete wearing Emily's Mortisha wig. It makes him look like a Hare Krishna!

There was a photo booth! Here are the kids enjoying the spotlight! Once there were more than 5 in the picture, everyone wanted to be in!

Of course apple bobbing and doughnuts on a string.

Fun costumes GaLORE! I like Pete's Yoda back-pack!

Minnie Mouse and a green M&M!

And the food! The skeleton was a cute idea for about 5 minutes. I kept on having to replace arms and legs. Within 10 minutes into the party it was a cutting board full of body parts.

Penny's Halloween bark. Thank you Pinterest!

So I don't have pictures of two of the highlights .. the Halloween show! I'll have to post a video soon! It was a rush to get the show together this year because it was raining all week until the day of the party!

Spook Alley! - The spook alley was even BETTER this year! WE had the "Dead Janitors" (one of the grandkids came up with that) in our heating closet ... Some talking skulls inside R2D2. Black lights, fog, strob lights, brains and eyeballs. The best part was we had one of the older grandkids dress up in a skeleton costume. You didn't notice the skeleton on the couch. while the kids touched the eyeballs and brains, the skeleton would get off the couch and scream at them! Pete was the skeleton the first couple of rounds. Phillip walked through the spook alley and was telling his cousins he wasn't scared. But when Pete scared them out of the spook alley, Phillip was freaked out. Phillip said, "DAD!! did you know there was a SKELETON in THERE!?

Not to give away any surprises, but I want to try these for next year ..

Glowing water

Dry Ice bubbles

The biggest miracle was that we had the house clean and babysitter ready within 12 hours. Here's a Picture of Pete and me at the M&M store on the Vegas Strip!

Happy Birthday to WackyCathy

Well, I realized it is the 5 year anniversary to my blog! CRAZY!! Maybe I started the blog during the first week of October as a way to stretch out the celebration of my BIRTHDAY! hahahaha!

When I started the blog it was BEFORE Facebook. I think there was Friendster and MySpace, but I didn't really want to put my info on those sites. I started it mainly to stay in touch with friends and family. It now is probably the best source for a family history.

So what's happened in the last 5 years!!?

Lived it up in California

Moved to Utah and lived here for 4 years now!

Welcomed, Lily, Amelia, and now expecting little boy #4

Phillip started Kindergarten

House Projects GALORE

Cooking GALORE

Vacations: Disneyland, Disney World, Hawaii, San Diego, Michigan, Arizona

Lots of funny stories and pictures of the kids.

Here are some of my favorite posts:

Backyard Decathlon

Mother with Style

Family of Deer in Backyard

Cupcakes

Sugar Cookies

Getting Braces

Getting off Braces

Fall Preparations & Birthday Week!

I LOVE the fall! Probably because my birthday is in October. Growing up in a big family, I felt really special that I had the month of October all to myself. It was MY birthday MONTH!! Well, Phillip's birthday is a week and half before, Amelia's birthday is now 2 weeks after, so I get to relish my BIRTHDAY WEEK!!

I LOVE canning grape juice. It's SO EASY! You pick the grapes, wash them, put them in the juicer and fill the mason jar. My sister made grape juice this year and kept calling me for help. I couldn't answer many of her questions ... hmmm.. I finally realized why I LOVE making grape juice. It's because Pete does ALL THE WORK and I get ALL THE CREDIT!! Yesterday I was at work and I came home and Pete had already processed 17 quarts of grape juice. I did help with picking grapes, but our final total of 31 quarts of grape juice was juiced, processed and mess cleaned by Pete.

Our Halloween decorating is in full swing. Here is the latest picture of our mantel. Again, Pete pulled out all of the decorations. I did make some of the gourds a few years ago, but I don't know if they would see the light of day if it wasn't for Pete! He even picked up dinner for the rest of the week from Costco! What a great way to start my Birthday WEEK!

Now my only problem is to decide which halloween crafts/treats I want to get done for our family Halloween party. I'm addicted to Pinterest and I have 67 pins on my Halloween board. YIKES!!

Shiver me timbers! Phillip is 6!

Wow! I can't believe Phillip is already 6 years old! He has been counting down to his birthday since probably May. I had a countdown app on my phone and got the alarm today that he is turning 6! His official countdown started about 3 weeks ago .. every morning, "Dad, only 21 more days until my BIRTHDAY!" "Dad, only 20 more days until my BIRTHDAY!"

Phillip is such a great little guy. I don't know how we got so lucky. He is very obedient little guy. As long as he knows the rules and the reason behind them he will not break the rule. The problem is that he keeps me to the same standard. "MOM!! Remember only ONE treat at the grocery store!!" ... "MOM! you forgot to close the door!" "MOM!! you need to put your shoes away"

Favorite Phillip quotes:

"Mom how does the money go to Jesus? Does it go in space?" (I think he was wondering how his tithing money is spent)

Phillip was asking Pete a lot of questions after Pete got off work. ("what's the tallest point on earth? What's the deepest part of the ocean? What lives there?) Pete said he was tired and needed a break. Phillip said, "but DAD, I'm just little and I want to LEARN!"

Phillip wanted some bigger bills in his wallet. He had just gotten six ones in a wallet from his Grandma and Grandpa. So we traded him a five for five ones. Then Phillip had a big smile on his face. "Dad, guess what I want for Christmas?!" "What?"

"TWO BIG BAGS full of MONEY". Pete and I started cracking up. He didn't like that we were laughing. He said, "I'm SERIOUS!! and I don't just want one dollars. I want all kinds of money, 100's 20's .. all different kinds of money." I told him he could ask his grandparents for that for christmas. :-) I asked him why he wanted money and he said, "You can buy ANYTHING with a hundred dollars" "Even a house?" "yeah, I could even buy my own house, but I'll live next door. "

So we had a few talks on the matter and a few days ago he told Lily, "Christmas isn't about getting money. It's about getting one toy that you really want." Baby steps I guess! ;-)

BTW, Pinterest has helped me in more ways that one. I think I used 4 ideas from the site:

Invitation, Balloons, cake, goodie bags.

Crafting with Cathy - Indian Corn Wreaths

I just joined Pinterest yesterday. I'm OBSESSED! All of those fun ideas, crafts, and all of that great food .. so little time!

Well, it inspired me to actually FINISH some of my craft ideas. I got a big box of mini indian corn from .. where else? a yard sale for one dollar. This box has been moving from the upstairs and downstairs .. then back downstairs .. until I finally got the stuff to finish it. I glue gunned it. All of the blogs said to use floral wire, but that was going to take FOREVER. So, I don't know how this will store. It's big and I have to wrap it to keep it away from potential rodents. But for here and now I HAVE A CRAFT!!

End of Summer - Beginning of School

So another September month is upon us! I need to do a quick re-cap of the Summer.

I posted it on Facebook, but YES, we will have another BOY! Due date is December 20th. Phillip was so excited and said, "I'm going to bring my baby brother EVERYWHERE!" Lily and Amelia are excited as well. The kids have moved to their 'someday' beds and the baby's nursery is now ready.

Swimming Lessons! I was kind of crazy and signed up the kids for 3 sessions of swimming lessons. The hard work paid off and Phillip is on his way to the 'Learn to Swim' class. Both Lily and Phillip are pretty comfortable in the water and can 'swim' about 15 feet. I use quotation marks because they sometimes look like they are drowning when they are swimming. Good job guys! Amelia enjoyed walking around the indoor track during lessons.

Going up to the Cabin - we got to spend some time at Pete's parents cabin. Phillip and Lily decided they wanted to do some 'homework' before they went to bed.

Clowning around at home! Look at Phillip's trick! It reminds me of me and my brother and sisters growing up. We were always 'climbing' the walls. Amelia has a knack for artwork .. on the walls, cushions, and especially herself. The kids favorite craft this summer is painting rocks. We now have some great brightly colored rocks to match our gnome garden.

Take kids to work day! My laptop wasn't working on a day off and I asked the kids ... "who wants to go to Mommy's work?" They all wanted to come! It was pretty hilarious to see how people's heads would turn as I am corralling 3 little kids with 1 on the way. They did have fun spinning in the chair! Notice the hello-kitty toaster with toast shaped paper. Pretty Awesome!

First day of School! I can't believe Phillip is in school already. I cried after I dropped him off. He's getting so big! He has loved the first week of school and it has been fun walking him to school every morning.