House full of teenagers

Last night we threw a little party for the youth from church. There was lots of junk food, rockband, uno, charades and haircuts! It was a great time and Cooper probably had the most fun getting to hang with the big kids and stay up 'til midnight. We will definitely be doing this again :)

We didn't get pictures of everyone who came but there were probably about 20 kids who came over. Jackson wanted to make a spectacle of getting all his hair cut off so he wanted to do it at the party. When we were done with Jackson, Bekah came in the kitchen and said, "I just called my mom and she said you can cut my hair." Ha ha, I was like uhhhhh, I've never cut girls hair. She said, "It's OK, it's just hair! Do it!" So I did. And it must have been beginners luck.

We played long games of Uno, rocked out to rockband and a few rounds of charades at the end. The kids ate donuts, cookies, chips, ice cream and lemonade. Could a Friday night get any better?! I think not.

Bekah's new haircut

Jackson before

Jackson after

Uh...duh!

Today's post is obviously about Thanksgiving!

Living close to both sides of the family, we are always blessed to eat two thanksgiving meals. Now it's always fun until someone gets hurt right? Well, it was fun. Now we're hurting. But let me tell you, the food was delicious. The company was great and the day all in all was just a great day.

Every Thanksgiving I get a little extra feeling of thanks but today I was simply overwhelmed by gratitude more than once. I just feel so blessed right now in my life.

Here are some things we are SO thankful for:

-our boys
-opportunity
-Andy Bernard (that one is Jake's)
-our car
-good deals
-early bedtimes
-game night
-optimisim
-friends and family who go above and beyond for us
-creativity
-pancakes
-snuggles
-pull-ups
-our health
-drives in the car
-spiritual leaders
-the treadmill
-wet wipes
-the internet
-pictures

This list really could go on and on. I am so thankful for my life. What a wonderful life it is.

Ahhhhhhh.....

These paper lanterns are some of my favorite things I've purchased recently. They are just so colorful!! I hung them over the new decclo couch in front of the new decclo wall to be used for shooting videos for the new decclo you tube channel :)

New things are so much fun.

These colors make me feel Christmassy

I was tagged by my friend Laura to go in search of 7 red or green things in my house and take pictures and post them. As much as I love red and green, I had a little bit of a hard time finding 7!!

1. Our green decclo wall

2. my brand new make-my-hair-big product

3. an old antique from my grandma which reminds me of my lucky smokin' grandpa

4. a green glass with grandpa's red dice

5. our wedding invitation

6. my most favorite item in the kitchen

7. Jake's prom king hat

It was fun to do, thanks for the tag ;)

I tag--

Paige

Carol

Ali

This one's a keeper

I made a yum yummy meal tonight. I'm bragging, here's the recipe:

Tomato Basil Tart

1/2 cup milk

6 eggs

2 medium tomatoes

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1/2 cup fresh chopped basil

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 handful of bacon bits

1 unbaked 9 inch pie crust

Heat oven to 375. Bake crust for ten minutes or so until a very light golden brown. combine milk, eggs, cheese, basil, salt, and pepper. beat well. pour mixture into crust and top with sliced tomatoes, a lil' more cheese and bacon bits. bake for 20-30 minutes. should be firm to the touch when done.

Sorry no picture. we ate it too fast :)

Hey Stranger!

Two weeks ago I put two different counters on my blog. One that counts every single hit to the blog and one that counts every "unique" hit to the blog. So even though I look at my blog every day, the unique counter recognizes me and only counts me the first time.

At this moment in time I have had 717 unique hits to my blog. I don't think I even know that many people. I know that some people just browse through and read stranger's blogs, because I have done that too. But my curiosity has totally been peaked! I want to know who's reading my blog!!

Now a lot of people will say, "I can't leave a comment because I don't have a google account." There's an easy fix to that: Go to google account, type in your current email address (it doesn't have to be gmail, mine is hotmail) and create a password and, Voila! There's a couple of perks to having this google account. You can subscribe to news feeds and blogs and all sorts of stuff and have the updates all on one list. Check it out!!

After you do that, leave a comment on this post!!!!! It's Sunday and I know that Sundays are big blog reading days....I want to know who's stopping by to read! I've never wanted to make my blog private. I like that strangers come and read, it gives me a chance to somehow share a bit of myself and maybe spark a thought in someone I don't know and that is intriguing to me.

Tell me who you are! I'd love to know!!

My Jack

Jack has recently started the whole separation anxiety phase and while Cooper never did this and I much appreciated it, I sorta like it with Jack. He is so snuggly and such a love bug. He wants to be held much more than Cooper ever did and he's ok with laying his head on you even if it means missing what's going on in the room. I love that about him.

He's also turned into a genius this week. I was emptying the dishwasher and Cooper was helping me, well Jack wanted in on the fun and came over and picked one piece of silverware at a time and handed it to me. And today he found a plastic bucket and I gave him some chopsticks and he played the drums. Are second children typically quicker at picking up those little things because they have a sibling to watch do everything? It's not like they get as much as #1 did because well, there's two of them. So they have to sit and observe way more than the oldest ever did. So does this make them better learners? I wonder.

Something else that Jack does that makes him Oh-so-cute is that he licks his lips a lot. I don't know if this has anything to do with the fact that he would probably eat until he passed out (he's a fatty) or that he likes the feeling, or he has chapped lips or what....But it's adorable.

Conversion

Ok so I'm pretty sure I've been converted to Team Jacob.

How can you not after that movie?

What?

Ok so I'm sitting on my couch. It's 11:30. I was just about to go to bed and I remembered I hadn't posted yet today and I already had my one free pass in my 30 posts in 30 days challenge. I have the tv on and I'm trying to think of something to write about.

I see this commercial for the last episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8 airing next week. It's the final episode for them and they're playing little clips of some of the things they say. The last one Kate says is, "It was a good run..."

What?

Did I hear that right?

You thought that was a good run? Aren't you in the middle of a horrible divorce with a husband who is apparently sponsored by Ed Hardy and is dating a wild thang half your age leaving no time for the 8 children you decided to have together?

If that was a good run, then I'm pretty sure I'm doin' awesome. I can't wait for that show to be over.

High Road

Today something (bad) happened that I still can't find words for. I sat down earlier to write this big post spilling my feelings and it turned into ranting. I tried so carefully to piece my words together to sound "more mature" about the whole thing and although I'm still ticked to no end, I've summer donna'd a little (look it up, funny stuff).... and as I read and reread what I tried to write, I've decided to just not post it.

I would like to say however that there are very few times in my life when I've been so BLOWN away by behavior in adults that I am just beside myself. I always want to be an adult of integrity and strength. One who is honest and selfless. Not only because it is the right way to be but because the Lord has entrusted me with two very choice little boys and I know that they watch my every move. Cooper tries to shave his legs in the shower with a lego for crying out loud. If I am the parent who watches my boys play sports from the sidelines and I holler at the ref and complain to coaches about playing time and scream and yell during games, my kids will be that way too. If I talk behind peoples backs and play nice to their face, my kids will do that too. If I cheat or lie a little here and there, even if it's in good interest for the other person, my kids will think cheating and lying is ok. There is no gray area for kids. There is no sugar coating or watering it down. Give it to them straight, and be a good example.

I'm afraid if I keep going I will say too much and regret it later. I will however close this up with the very well known and oh-so-true quote that, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Not far at all....

**disclaimer-- Hubster just read this and said everyone's gonna think I'm mad at him. It has nothing to do with anyone in my family! fyi.

Wall makeover!

I've been spending (way too much) time on etsy lately trying to find some art for a cluster on one of the walls in my living room.

This is the kinda style I'm going for but I haven't made any decisions yet...I have about a thousand pages left to browse through.

A good thing? Not so sure...

So we've been having poo problems around here remember? Cooper refuses to poo in the toilet. So today when we gave him a minute of privacy in the loo he pooped on the floor.

Then played in it.

Not sure if this is a step in the right direction, but maybe it is?

New Moon Partay!!!!

Some of you have bought tickets for the Friday showing of New Moon at 7pm at Silverdale 4 cinemas.

If you haven't already, go and do it!!!.....Because we're having a party and you're invited.

My house

5:00pm- a little after 6 then we will carpool

Bring a small plate of hors d'oeuvres to share!

Drinks will be provided

*DON'T FORGET TO DRESS UP!!!!!!!!

Leave a comment or message me on fb so I can be sure of a headcount. (Even if you've already told me...)

Valient Effort

Tonight we had a ward dinner. I planned all day on 7 o'clock, which seemed kinda late to us but by golly we were going to be on time. So on time in fact when we drove into the parking lot at 6:30 and saw ALL the cars there already.... We realized we were a half hour late. Typical :)

On the plus side: It was a Hawaiian luau so there was TONS of really good food. No one went hungry tonight. Good times!

Poo problems

I'm having a really hard time getting Cooper to poop on the toilet. He's been in pull-ups for about two weeks now peeing like a champ on the potty but I CANNOT, FOR THE LIFE OF ME get him to poop in the toilet.

I've had him sit there for a half hour at a time and practice farting hoping that poop will follow. When I'm fed up I let him down and no more than an hour later he's hiding somewhere pooping under a table or something.

I've tried EXTRA hard to constantly be aware and not give him opportunity to hide and poop but the first moment I slip, he does it AGAIN!

What a smart and tricky little boy!....He used to get candy every time he peed but now he only gets it when he poops, and he hasn't had candy since Halloween. Any tips??

T.O'd.

I was listening to Dori Monson's show on 97.3 Kiro FM News Talk today and he talked about this: (This is an actual excerpt from his blog)

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 @ 12:07am
Only in Seattle

A couple weeks ago, I talked with both the Freedom From Religion Foundation and with Metro Transit about FFRF's anti-religion bus campaign they're running this Christmas season.

As I said on the show, I don't blame FFRF for its campaign. they're athiests - doing what athiests do.

I do, however, blame Metro Transit for allowing this campaign. Now that the busboards have hit the streets, many of my Christian listeners have contacted me about how offensive this campaign is to them.

One listener sent me a photo of a busboard that I have seen all over the streets the last week or so.

I continue to believe that there is no way Metro would ever allow a campaign that is so offensive towards blacks... towards gays... towards hispanics, Asians, transsexuals, or hermaphrodites.

But our government-run transit agency has no problem with a campaign that targets people of faith. The last acceptable targets of government-endorsed bigotry.

Only in Seattle.

This just totally and completely ticks me off. I'm about to go on a rant and I don't care if I sound juvenile. It's just not fair that these people can go and do this. If I wanted to buy space on that bus with a big 'ol Aladdin cartoon and have him saying, "Sorry Muhammad, there is no Allah," or a fluffy Troll Doll saying, "It is YOUR choice to be gay, you weren't BORN that way," there would be riots in the streets of Seattle in no time at all. Why then can they express using an image of ST. NICK that there is no God but last year they stopped others from displaying a nativity at the state capitol? Why do they have every right, but I do not have mine? Where are we going wrong here? I love this beautiful state of WA but more often than not it is tickin' me off. It doesn't come down to whether or not your are liberal or conservative, democrat or republican, male, female, asian, black, christian or not. THIS IS WRONG!

There, I'm done.

Blue Skies

Happy sunshiney Veteran's Day!!! It's a miracle it actually stopped raining and it's a double miracle we all got up and got ready as early as we did considering our last couple of days inside. We were in need of some fresh autumn air and let me tell you, it was indeed refreshing.

Fail

It only took me less than a week to fail the NaBloPoMo challenge. In my defense we are REALLY sick around here.....and I technically posted twice on cupcake giveaway day. So there.

In these recent days of being locked up in our house, Jake and I have noticed a couple of things about our boys. One of those things is how Cooper talks to Jack. It is kind of funny to watch because as it turns out....and after a huge *light bulb moment*....it is exactly how we talk to Cooper.

Example:

Cooper and Jack have just been put to bed, Jack won't stop crying-

Cooper: (in a fed up and exhausted manner...and well, kinda screaming) "JACK! STOP CRYING!.....THAT'S ENOUGH!!"

Jack continues to cry

Cooper tries another approach in a sweeter more loving tone: "Jaaaack, it's okaaaaaaaaay. Stop cryingggggggg. Go to sleeeeeeeeep."

Example 2:

Cooper tries to get Jack's attention for something-

Cooper (as he grabs Jack's face): "Jack! Look at me! Listen to what I'm saying!" (and he gets right in his face and says whatever it is he NEEDS to say)

This is funny for a second, although it totally ticks Jack off. And I now realize why I need to speak more kindly and softer to Cooper. Because it is EXACTLY how he will speak to Jack. And I need them to be buddies. That's why I went through with this crazy plan of having them 19 months apart.

*NEW GOAL: Speak more kindly to Cooper, be more patient and let it show in my voice....... Hopefully I don't fail within a week with this one :)

Quarantine

First off...It is amazing what a shower, toothbrush and a little bit of mouthwash can do for you when you're feeling super crummy. Having a house full of sickies is not so fun. Everyone is tired, grumpy, icky and bored. Not a good combination. We won't ever know if we've got the H1N1 but it is most definitely the flu bug. Luckily good 'ol Cooper hasn't shown any symptoms as of late. He is still the little tornado in our house like always (which at moments throughout the day almost makes it harder). Jack has had a fever which has made him extra snugglie and we love that part. Poor Jake has broken a fever 4 times now since Friday. I have had all symptoms but to the least degree which has been fortunate for all of us. We all know that when the family is sick...mom takes care of them. And when mom gets sick too, she's still in charge. I feel lucky to be hangin' in there so well.

Since we didn't go to church today, we watched a bunch of Mormon Messages on you tube. This message titled "Create" by Dieter F. Uchtdorf is the latest and I just love it.

A lot of times (especially this weekend) I feel useless and dull. But then I look at my two babies and realize I AM pretty creative...I grew those babies! And they look a lot like us! And so far, they are turning out to be great little boys and I know that it is with the help and influence of the gospel in our lives and the spirit of the Lord which is in our home, even when people are puking and grumpy. "Create" was a good reminder of that.

I am so thankful for the time we have had to slow down this weekend and just be together and not go anywhere. I am thankful for the power of the priesthood and the blessing Jake and Dad were able to give a restless sick Jack last night. And I will be very thankful when we all get our energy back so we can continue playing together.

What we did for Halloween

This is a week late but I just couldn't miss posting pictures of what we did last week for Halloween. We kicked off the celebrations on Thursday at music makers and the kids all got to dress up in their costumes. Coop was Harry Potter (wizard coat hand crafted by Grandma Fry and scarf made by Aunt Brittney...in lower pics) and Jack's costume wasn't quite finished yet....well it hadn't even been started.

Cooper and his buddy Paul

For lunch on Halloween day while carving our pumpkins we had

apple dumplings with vanilla icecream. Best lunch ever.

Cooper, R&J, and Jack's commemorative white pumpkin (like his helmet) carved like Tim Burton's Jack Skellington

Trunk or treat at the church. Jack in his ghost costume.

To see us at Halloween one year ago, before Jack arrived, click here.

And the winners are....

Krista

Doranda and

Claire!!!!!

I'll be by sometime tomorrow morning to drop them off :)

Cupcake Giveaway!!

It was a rainy rainy day today and I wanted to bake something. All signs pointed to -----> Cupcake. So I googled "beautiful cupcakes" and this is the one I thought I could pull off. (This is a pic of my finished result) It's not perfect in my book, well nothing ever is, but I thought they turned out cute. Not as big and velvety looking as I had imagined but, they are scrumptious. Heaven knows I'll eat all 30 of them before the weekend is up so I wanted to do a giveaway.

The first 3 people to respond to this post will have a couple of cupcakes hand delivered by yours truly. And if you're sitting at home on a Friday night reading my blog....you need a cupcake you poor thing :)

***Disclaimer: Recipients must be within a 30 mile radius of me. If you're far far away, you can take a rain check and just drool for now.

Turnin' it around

I really miss the warm summer sun already and I've been kind of a mope about it. So I decided that I'd write ten things about it NOT being summertime that I love to make it a more positive time of year :) If you're down in the dumps about rainy Washington fall then this is for you my fellow sun lover.

1. Snuggling in blankets a lot more often
2. Baking baking baking
3. Soup
4. The beautiful fall colors
5. Volleyball season
6. Decorating for the holidays
7. Hot chocolate, hot cider and hot peppermint tea
8. Tons of new movie releases
9. Walking into a warm house
10. The clear clean skies of WA, thanks to the frequent rainfall.

Feeling a little better? Good, now go bake some bread and watch Elf with someone you lovey love. I'll be doing that.

NaBloPoMo!!!!.....what?

I saw this on my friend's blog and she was my very first ever friend I knew that had a blog. She taught me how to actually work this so called blog that I keep. I've always admired hers and a few other people's blogs and the interesting, emotional, funny and original posts they write. I'd love to be able to reach their level in my own blogging and this is a great way to get some practice. I am starting this late so I'll make sure to post for 30 days straight.

I'm actually pretty pumped! Leave a comment on an idea for a blog post and I'll use it. I PROMISE....it's not like an amateur like me can come up with 30 original ideas 30 days in a row all on my own. Trust me.

Open invite!

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

Friday November 20th 7pm

Regal 4 Cinemas in Silverdale

Tickets @ Fandango.com

Let's make it a party!!!

Let me know if you're going to that one. We're dressing up like hott cullens (basically, we're wearing all black and looking really sleek and pretty for the night). I'd love to make an event out of it but only if there's a few more people than just, well....me.