Garage Sale!

My family noticed some garage sale signs so this morning I checked the listings when I got up. Pete's Mom was nice to come over and sit with the kids for an hour. We only made it to one estate sale. It was GREAT! We got some cool vintage Christmas decorations (amber lights, santa, chasing lights, and ornaments). We also got a vintage fireman hat. A guy offered me 8$ for the fireman hat right after I bought it. I thought to sell it to him to help with the garage sale budget, but my Spidey sense thought that if this professional garage saler is offering me $8, then it must be worth a lot more. I just checked e-bay and there is one going for $80. Crazy! We got a cool red table for our downstairs kitchen, a small milk jug, some cool fabrics and an old fisherprice xylophone toy. We spent in all $22. We bought a santa from Walmart for $20, so once we return that we will be out only $2.

My favorite find is a poca-dot dress. My eye caught site of the black poca-dots and I thought I could use the fabric for something. However, I came home and tried on the dress and it is a perfect fit! I took a picture with our webcam, but you get the idea. I never find dresses that fit in the store, let alone at a garage sale!

Halloween Party

Well, we had a successful Halloween Party. We had REALLY good food. Homemade doughnuts (Thank you Becca!), homemade breadsticks (Thank you Al!), Costco Pizza (the take and bake kind), Decorated Carmel Apples, Sugar cookies and frosting, Jell-o Salad (Thanks RayAnne!) lady fingers, homemade root beer, artichoke dip, veggie dip, fruit tray and MUCH MUCH more! I was doing good on my diet, until last night and just couldn't resist.

We had some fun activities. Decorating cookies, decorating caramel apples, eating doughnuts on a string, and going outside to see the light show. We didn't get to bobbing for apples, but I guess there is always next year. Me, Hanna and her friend Autumn had fun bobbing for apples at 10:00PM after everyone had left!

We had some great costumes! Paige was trying to blend in with her camouflage. Paul had a realistic Darth Vader costume. The rest of their kids were super heroes and a cuddly bear. Al realized that having extra arms gets more in the way when she dressed as a spider. We had two pumpkins, four witches, two super-mans, two bat-mans, and many more!

Thanks everyone who helped out and came to enjoy the fun!

Look Who is Growing Up!

Well, Lily is crawling now. She gets upset when we leave her in a room by herself. She starts crawling as she is crying. I bet she is saying to herself, "I have to crawl all the way down the hall to find you and all you have to do is pick me up before you go!"

She is starting to pull herself up on almost everything as well. She loves to stand against the toy box and pull out all of the toys.

So far she has only eaten two of my broom piles. I have to keep the house a lot cleaner now.

She hasn't lost her baby weight even with all of this exercise, which is good. I think she has the food gene. She always is trying to steal Phillip's drinks and food. I let her gnaw on a Pizza and she go SO excited. I had to take it away from her when she was gnawing off huge bites. She was SO upset!

Fall Pictures

Fall is one of my favorite seasons. I used to go on 'Photo Safari's' every year to take pictures of the leaves changing. Here are some of my Fall pictures from our trip to Michigan. I'll have to take some around here in Utah as well.

Trip to Michigan

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Pete wanted to take a training course and his work would pay for the travel, so we decided to go to Michigan where I grew up. Pete had never been to Michigan before, so it was fun to have the family see all of the sights.

We stayed at the Dearborn Inn for two days while Pete was at his classes. I took Phillip to the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. I was excited to see my favorite car, the Oscar Mayer Wiener car. Phillip has a grumpy face in the picture because he was yelling at the guy taking the picture saying, "That's Mommy's Camera!"

We went to a trick-or-treat event at Greenfield village. They had witches and over 5000 Jack-O-Lanterns. It was really cool. Phillip's favorite was the skeletons playing the Xylo-bones.

I'd say the highlight of our trip was going to the farm. Bryan got out all of the toys and Phillip had fun riding the 4-wheeler. He was so worn out from all of the fun he fell asleep during our family ride. We picked apples at the neighboring far from their orchard and made apple cider. Pete loved the cider and kept drinking glass after glass, eventhough there was a chance he would get sick from all of that juice!

Phillip was so excited to play with Nick, his cousin. He kept forgetting his name and would say, "Where did that boy go?"

I'd say the lowlight of the trip was how disoriented I was. I could not figure out where I was going half of the time. I even had to call for directions to go to church. Ga'ak! I kept telling Pete I only had about a mile radius of where I would drive.

We drove by and saw all of my schools, we drove by our old house. We also went to the Franklin Cider Mill. It was funny being back in Michigan. It has been almost 10 years since I lived there. Some things haven't changed and some things were so different.

It was a great trip and the kids did really good. We'll have to go again and meet up with Mark and Mary next time.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Well, it was a GREAT birthday weekend. It was kind of nice having my birthday on a Sunday. It meant that I could drag the festivities through the WHOLE weekend.

On Friday, Pete and I went to the Gateway. I had originally wanted to go to Happy Sumo. However, since I was getting nervous hungry we went to Tucanos, one of the all-you-can-eat Brazilian restaurants. Pete said, "Whose birthday is this?!" I normally take him to fruffy restaurants that serve frois grais, and Squab. Well, this time it was all the meat you could eat that had been roasted on a spit.

I wanted to go to Sephora, and for some reason I assumed there was one at Gateway. This is probably the fourth time I took Pete to a reastaurant or store, that suddenly was out of business or never existed. Ha!

On Saturday, I was able to get pedicures with some of my sisters. They were laughing at me because I knew way too much about all of the celebrities. (I listed all of Angelina Jolie's kids and ages) ha! I watch way too much E! News.

While I was gone, Phillip picked out a present for me. He got a 'Muppets Animal' card and Halloween sprinkles. He said, "This one is Mommy's Favorite!"

On Sunday, Phillip wanted to make me a cupcake. Thus the mess with the food processor lid and flour. :-) Lily was teething all weekend and has started crawling. She now gets stuck in random places in the room.

In all a GREAT birthday. Thanks for all of the happy birthday wishes. Facebook is GREAT!

Happy Halloween

Well, We are quite the 'Griswold' family. We already have our Halloween lights up. We got some software and hardware to time the lights to Halloween songs. We saw a house in California that did this for Christmas and we were inspired.

Pete was able to program all of the light sequences. The Orange lights are from our large Christmas lights, but we replaced all of the bulbs with orange lights. We have a FM transmitter so that we don't have to play the songs out loud. (That would get the neighbors mad pretty quickly :-) So, if you are in the neighborhood, tune to 106.7 FM. :-)

We will have a Christmas show as well with the nativity story and everything.

Enjoy the videos. Lily was bouncing in my lap and grabbing at the camera, so footage is a little shaky.

"This is Halloween" from Nightmare before Christmas




The Adams Family Theme song:

Rescue Jungle Party

Well, Phillip turns three on Wednesday. I can't believe it has already been three years. It seems like only yesterday that we were anxiously waiting to have Phillip. I even started crying when Britney Spears had her baby before me. (I was 12 days late with Phillip and it wasn't fair because she was due after me!) ha!

Phillip has been so much fun and has the funniest personality. Lately Phillip loves to help Pete "Fix." He often says, "Dad, you're the Mazing! You're the Mazing Boy!" He's starting to repeat stuff that we say. One time, he was getting frustrated that I wasn't listening to what he was saying. He said, "You need to listen, the FIRST time!"





















For his birthday party, I had my heart set on a Jungle party. But, because of his recent interest in Diego, we had a Jungle Rescue Party.

Of course, we got into the dress-ups. We did the chicken dance, the Elephant walk, and rescued stuffed animals around the yard. It's funny how hours of planning result in a 15 minute game at a party. The best part of parties is people eating good food and having a fun time. We even had an impromptu karaoke jam! We are so glad that Pete's dad is better and can share his love of Frank Sinatra. ;-) Pete's Sister Paige also really got into the singing.

A Gentleman Farmer

Well, it's harvest season. Even though my vegetable garden didn't do so well this year, we are reaping the benefits of our "Easter Chicks." Right now we are getting 4 eggs each day. We still had some Costco eggs in the fridge and they are pretty much the same size. So that is two dozen eggs a week! I will need to start giving away the extra eggs because I don't know how many breakfast casseroles, or quiches I will be able to make! Let me know if you have any good egg recipes.

My dad recently had a blog entry regarding "Farm Genes." I guess we are passing on the great tradition of living off the land. Ha! It's nice to know that we would have fresh eggs even if our electricity went out.

The chickens definitely listen to Pete and respect him as the "Farmer." They are very tame and will even perch on his head or shoulder if he is out working in the yard.

We have "Big Red Hen" and "Little Red Hen." We also have "Patty" and "Selma." Big Red likes to hang out on our Patio and has even snuck inside the house when I wasn't looking. Big Red also likes to lay her eggs in the bottom basket of our double jogger.

I was thinking of all of the sayings that we get from chickens, "Getting your feathers ruffled." This definately happened when I had to jump our neighbors fence and capture a few chickens that were exploring their yard.

"Pecking Order" - Once we got rid of the Rooster (Checkers). (And No, we did not eat Checkers) Big Red stepped up and became the "Ruler of the Roost"

Check out this site for more chicken sayings.

Best of Friends

When you're the best of friends

Having so much fun together

You're not even aware, you're such a funny pair

You're the best of friends

Life's a happy game

You could clown around forever

Neither one of you sees, your natural boundaries

Life's one happy game

Phillip and Lily are getting to be good friends and play really good together. Thank you to Stacey who took the pictures while she was helping me out!

A Busy Labor day

Well, it's been almost a week late but here is our Labor Day Report!

We had a packed weekend. We went to Swiss Days in Midway. It was fun to go on Friday because it wasn't as crowded. But, still didn't get any pictures because our hands were full. We stayed at the Zermatt hotel. It was actually really nice ... until we wanted to go to sleep. Phillip didn't settle down and go to bed until midnight. Lily was up at 1:00AM who then woke up Phillip, who then woke up Lily. Note to self ... next time we stay at a hotel we need to leave the kids, or get geared up for a night without sleep :-)

On Saturday we tried to avoid the crowds of Swiss Days we went to Soldier Hallow to see the annual sheep dog herding competition. They also had SplashDogs there! It was a really random, yet surprisingly entertaining event. Here is a clip of someone successfully herding their sheep for a grand total score of 74! (You have 13 minutes to get the sheep through a series of gates, separate the sheep then get them into the pin).

Later in the day we got to go to the first BYU football game with both kids. As you can see Lily was quite the cheerleader. Phillip had his oversized football jersey and wanted to stand in Becca's family picture. It was REALLY hot at first. Drinking fountain line was quite the site! I decided to spend two dollars on a bottled water instead of waiting in line. Once the clouds started to cover it was a really fun game.

Lily - Our new little scooter

I had set Lily down on the Boppy Pillow. I had given her some baby toys to play with. I was a little confused that she was playing with blocks and plastic animals, but I figured Pete gave them to her. Huh...

Then I realized that she has started to scoot herself around and lifted herself up on our toy box and was pulling out toys for herself. She is growing up WAY too fast! She also grabs at any toys that Phillip is playing with. He'll get annoyed and say .. "play with THIS one." (a less favorite toy that he is willing to share).

Phillip is pretty sweet with her. He'll say, "you want your mommy?" when she starts crying. In the car, if she is fussy, he'll force a fake laugh to get her to smile and say, "That's a silly face!"

Summer Recap

Pete and Phillip "Fishing" at Wasatch Park

Phillip dancing at the Bountiful Pioneer Parade.

Our Chicken Eggs!

This has been a busy summer. I feel like it has flown by. Here are my highlights and lowlights of Summer


Highlights:
1. Fireworks - We had fun doing fireworks and watching fireworks for both the 4th and 24th. We watched the Bountiful fireworks from Pete's Parents Deck. Now every night Phillip asks for fireworks.


2. Barbecues - I've gained a little weight after all of the barbecues that we have had. I think my favorite combination is RayAnne's Jell-o, Ribs, potato salad, hamburger, hot dog, coleslaw, and beans ... wait maybe that's why I gained weight. I can't say anything about corn on the cob because I can't eat it with my braces.


3. Swimming - We had fun swimming at Becca's in-law's pool. We even got a sneak peak at the neighborhood pool. We even turned down the temperature on our hot tub so that it would be refreshing to get into during the heat of the summer.


4. Chicken eggs - We finally have chicken eggs! Finally, a return on our investment! Here is a picture of the eggs next to the Costco eggs.


5. Passing my CISA test. I'm now a Certified Information Systems Auditor. I have also been an Sanitation Engineer (Janitor), Entrepreneur (tying balloons for people at restaurants), and cake decorator.


Low Lights


1. A not so bountiful harvest. I spent a considerable amount of time and a little money on my first vegetable garden. I had little starts all around the yard. Pete thought that I had a systematic thought process and that I was testing the soil and sun exposure in our yard. No... I just went to Lowes, Home Depot, and J&L garden too much on an empty stomach. The chickens ate all of my cucumbers, and squash. Phillip keeps picking my green tomatoes. I guess there is always next year.


2. Sick Kids and getting sick - This summer we had a few bugs move through the family. Nothing like the cryptosperidium from last year.


3. It all goes by sooo quickly - Lily is sitting up and eating rice cereal. She is always playing with her toys and starts to grab at our food. She even had a nacho chip because she grabbed it really quick off my plate and shoved it in her mouth. I guess it's o.k. because I once gave my nephew James a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and Doritos when he was 5 months old. He turned out o.k. :-) Here's a picture of Lily in her exersaucer. How do you like our application of the label maker?

Jogging Crew

I am trying to get back in shape. I had a bit of a hiatus from exercising after I injured my foot and went back to work. I took the kids for a walk and jog, now that Lily is old enough. The first picture is from April and they were all bundled up for a walk. The second picture is from last Friday. I can't believe how big Lily has gotten! She can pretty much sit up on her own. She has quite the caboose to support her. ha!

Phillip has been saying really funny things lately. We were eating dinner and he said, "It's HOT, you have to be careful. It's dangerous. Remember?" and "I ate it all gone like a shark."

He is very good with his comparisons, "Lily is cute like Mommy." Or, "I'm a big boy like Daddy."

I've had a really long week with work so hopefully I can catch up all of our Summer events soon!

The Exersaucers

Phillip

We got the exersaucer for Phillip when he was about 4 months old. It's funny how even though everyone says that Phillip and Lily look alike they are already so different. Phillip was always wanting to look around. He didn't mind if I had to get stuff done as long as he was entertained. I think it took him until he was about four months old to crack a smile.

Lily

We pulled out the exersaucer for Lily. She is getting so good with her hand coordination. She loves to be part of the group. Her new trick is to do rasberries and she thinks it is the funniest thing in the world. She loves to be held. She gets really offended and will cry real tears if you make eye contact and don't go pick her up.

Bountiful Play Date

We had a fun play date at our house for my family.  My sister Bina was in town so it was fun to get everyone together.

As you can see all the kids got something from my dress up box.  Originally Pete grouped the halloween decorations with the costumes.  I told him that we need dress ups in a more convenient location.  I'd say we use the costumes at least once a month.  

We had fun doing the chicken dance while the chickens were hiding in the bushes.  We had some good food and good times.  

With so much family it's hard to make it to all of the events.  I should start a website:  Ratemyfamilyfunction.com.  You can anonymously rate a family function and leave feedback.  e.g.  "great food, but make sure the Little Cesears is fresh next time."  Ha!

This way I can advertise any future events...

Come to Phillips birthday party which will be held at Cathy's house, rated "Best of Davis County" from Ratemyfamilyfunction.com.

Chicken update:  We had to get rid of Checkers.  It turns out that he is a rooster.  He started doing his "cock-a-doodle-doo" at six in he morning.  And no, we did NOT eat checkers.  We found him a good home ... Chick-Fil-A.  JUST KIDDING!!   

I Feel Young Again!

I got braces today.  It was a little bit of an ordeal, but it didn't hurt as much as I thought.  We'll wait and see until tonight.

I feel like I can't eat ANYTHING.  I tried to eat a granola bar and it felt like my teeth were going to pop off.

Well, hopefully I'll have them off in 18 to 24 months.  Just in time for Phillip to go to Kindergarten.  WEIRD!

I've already had a few 'work' phone calls and had to consciously not spit out my 'S's.  Maybe if I try hard enough I can finally have good diction.

alalallalalalalaaaeeeeeeh!!!

Fun in California!

California

We did it!

Day 1 - Fly in - Our flight was delayed and had to wait for the pilot.  Phillip was pretty good under the circumstances.  We got to Rick's 

house around 10:30 PM and left the kids in their dirt clothes asleep.

Day 2 - Santa Monica - We went to breakfast with Rick and Gemina in Brentwood.  We had some of the best french toast.

We went down to the pier to ride the ferris wheel and go to the beach.  The ferris wheel was a little bit tricky with two kids.  They shot us up really quick and stopped at the very top.  The ride was shaking and Pete was freaking out because Phillip was climbing up the seat.  Good Times!

It was fun to hang out with Rick and Gemina in Cali again!

Day 3 - Pasadena Swap Meet - Garage sales of all garage sales.  People were selling all of the junk that my mom has for $100.  I got a cute cookie jar for $5.  

Day 4 - We went to Downtown L.A.: The Santee alley and  Olvera Street.  We got some good toys for Phillip and a puffy dress for Lily.  

We went to a Sushi place with Pete's Aunt Connie.  She is friends with the owner.  It was the BEST sushi of my life!  She kept making some really neat creations.  I've never been that full from Sushi.

Pete & I went to ... MEDIEVAL TIMES!!!  IT WAS AWESOME.  More on this later ... it deserves its own entry.

Day 5 - Knotts Berry Farm - Phillip kept saying "Not Dairy Barn!"  Pete's parents watched the kids and Pete and I got to run around like teenagers and ride the big rides.  We even convinced Pete's Mom and Aunt to ride some big rides.

Day 6 - We drove down south and got to see Bina.  We had a BIG burger from Red Robin.  We went to the outlets at Carlsbad.  My favorite outlet mall ever.

Day 7 - Sea World!  We got to see Shamu, Sharks & Dolphins galore!

Day 8 - We drove to Cornado and went to the beach by the Del.  Very pretty beach.  I even got in the water!  We went to Sea World again and got some great seats for the Shamu show!

Day 9 - Flew home and did 6 loads of laundry.

In all, the kids were good even though Lily was sick and Phillip missed some naps.  Good to go away and good to come back.