KEEPING BUSY WITH...

transformers; building forts; going to school; Valentines parties; Landon lost two teeth; Isaac's first food (he LOVES it); Cameron drilled my teeth with NO anesthesia and I didn't feel a thing!! (he's a great dentist!); Panara Bread; Mall; Children's Museum; Building Legos ("Mom, will you take this piece off, will you find this piece, Austin's taking my piece....."); Wendy's; Walmart; Grocery Store; missionaries came over for dinner; snuggling under the covers; reading books; watching movies; Daddy-Son outings ("Resse's Runs"); parent teacher conferences; playing with friends; arcade; carousel; Target; Old Navy 40%off sale; outlets - I finally spent my Christmas money on a Fossil watch, wallet, sunglasses, and Gap outlet (Gotta love the outlets!); Battleship; talking on the phone; visiting teaching; home teaching; elder's quorum meetings; mock practical for the Dental Boards; shoveling snow; digging out the car twice; changing plans because school's been canceled (AGAIN!); Spiderwick movie; Chutes and Ladders; paying bills; putting Zac's socks on again and again; coloring; practicing letters (Austin can write O, B, A, & C); gymnastics; a big one for Cameron - he finished ALL his requirements for graduation!!

click on picture to enlarge

Tag

My cute sister-in-law tagged me so here are some things I betcha didn't know:

{10 YEARS AGO} - I was working at an advertising agency as an administrative assistant. I ran for Student Body Office and when I didn't make it I decided to go to early college at WSU. I was pretending NOT to wait for Cameron who had just left on his mission.

5 things on my {TO-DO LIST} today: CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN - oh, and feed my kids 50 times (at least it feels like it!) Actually here it is - fold the laundry in the dryer, take Austin to the children's museum for a church activity, call the doctor and get Austin's Epi-pen prescription refilled because the one I have is expired, put stew in the crockpot and defrost rhodes bake-n-serve rolls early enough for them to actually rise, return some clothes to Old Navy and Target...

{SNACKS} I enjoy: Nacho Cheese DORITOS - Love them. I also love ice cream sandwiches and snickers. When I'm trying to be healthy I love CRISPY apples

What I would do if I were a {BILLIONAIRE}: Pay off our credit cards and student loans; pay the airforce back so we wouldn't owe them any time; take a REAL vacation; start college funds for my kids; pay back my parents for a lifetime of taking care of me; Buy Jared's house for him; Save some; There's a TON of people I can think of helping - family first and then the starving kids in Africa

3 {BAD HABITS}: Going to bed too late; I don't drink nearly enough water; I "vent" to Cameron too much

5 {PLACES} I've lived: Roy, UT; Colorado Springs, CO; Ogden, UT; SLC, UT; Tiffin, IA

5 {JOBS} that I've had: Taco Maker; Epec Advertising; McKay Dee Credit Union; Darci's Hair Salon; Phazes Hair Salon

5 things people {DON'T KNOW} about me: my secret dream is to be famous someday; I want to write a cookbook for people with food allergies; My FAVORITE thing to do at night is fall asleep reading; When I was 10 I started reading my scriptures every night before bed and did it faithfully until I moved out for collage and was too embarrassed to read them in front of my room mate - I REALLY need to start reading them like that again; I'm obsessed with keeping my house clean - from vacuuming the vents to cleaning the crud inside the window seals with a q-tip - sadly, though, it's SO hard for me to fold and put away our laundry (that is the WORST chore in the world)

Tooth Fairy, Cyclops, and Chuba Lubba

Landon lost his first tooth the other day. He was SO excited for the Tooth Fairy to come. He's planning on using the dollar he got from the Tooth Fairy to buy "hot wheels" stuff. He is such a Big Kid lately. He helps with the cleaning - he actually likes to do his chores! He is always looking for ways to help me out, from playing with Zac to making Austin's bed. He is keeping us on track. If it's Monday he reminds us to have FHE. If Cam and I are "discussing" he reminds us that we are a happy family. If Austin is yelling at me in the car Landon reminds him that he needs to let me concentrate. He is a genuine peace-maker and always makes me smile. Austin is a one-of-a-kind kid. He is always making us laugh. He got his CYCLOPS "eye" because he was spinning around with a yo-yo. Just after I told him to settle down - WHAM! Right into the rocking chair. Poor kid. The funny thing is that about ten min. later, there he was again; spinning around with his yo-yo. This is one kid that does not take no for an answer. He's been loving preschool and wants to go everyday. He loves his brothers. He adds a tremendous bit of energy to our family and we love it.

Here's our little Chubba Lubba. He can sit supported and he is beginning to grab anything in his reach. He loves to play with dangly things from toys to phone cords. He is so happy. I am enjoying this sweet baby so much. When he wants to be picked up he kicks his legs really fast and makes the cutest little babbling sound - really, it's the same "words" every time. Cute. We love this kid too.

It's official!!

Check out our house by clicking here.
If you know anyone that wants to buy a house send them our way!

If at first you don't succeed...

When Landon first started preschool 2 1/2 years ago Austin and I went to a school party with him. Austin saw some frosted sugar cookies and wanted one in the worst way. Of course he couldn't have one because of his food allergies. So.. we went to walmart and bought 101 cookie cutters (litterally! I was feeling ambitious, I guess) and set out to make our non-dairy, egg free version of a frosted sugar cookie.
Well, here we are two and half years later and FINALLY, we've done it! I've tried all kinds of recipes and each was one disaster after another (too sticky, too flat, too yucky...). Yesterday the kids and I tried again and this time I mixed non dairy cream cheese with soy vanilla pudding and used that in the recipe and the cookies were AMAZING! The kids loved it. Austin was so happy. He pulled a chair into the kitchen and sat there watching the cookies bake the whole time. He even helped do the dishes so he could frost his cookies sooner. What a kid. His first R E A L sugar cookie!

What is this? Antartica?

Last Sunday it was -9 degrees when we headed off for church. I didn't think it was possible to get any colder. This morning when I took Landon to the bus stop my car thermometer said -17!!! It was... what's a colder word than f r e e z i n g? I checked weather.com just to make sure my car wasn't way off and sure enough it's -15 with a wind chill of -25 that means it feels like -25 when you go outside. Here's what weather.com says about our "severe" weather:

A WIND CHILL WARNING MEANS A COMBINATION OF WIND AND BITTERLY
COLD AIR WILL CREATE DANGEROUSLY LOW WIND CHILL VALUES....
RESULTING IN FROST BITE ...HYPOTHERMIA...OR EVEN DEATH IF
PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN. IF YOU MUST VENTURE OUTDOORS...DRESS
APPROPRIATELY IN LAYERS COVERING ALL EXPOSED SKIN.

I think we'll be staying inside today!!

We're Still Alive?

Austin and Zac are, once again, sick. Why is that they don't sleep when they're sick? Seriously, when one kid is up the other one is sleeping, once we get that one back in bed the other one wakes up. The nights are a never ending blur.
On top of it all, our realtor met with us last week and told us that we don't have much competition but what we do have is new construction... so our house has to be "prestine" (in her words). Our closets have to be mostly empty and everything has to be "open and spacious" - translation - even our toothbrushes are in an organizer under the sink. EVERYTHING has a place out of sight! What a PAIN!!!
We've had some good news too, though...
Zac had his 4 month check up and he is right on target. He weighs a whopping 16 pounds and is in the 85th percentile for weight and 90th for height. He's not quite rolling over but he rolls from side to side. He's such a cute little guy.
Austin started school and although he told me his favorite part of the day was when his teacher told him that I was there to pick him up, he seems to really like it.
Landon's school principle called the other day and told me Landon got a citizenship award. He cleaned up the melted snow in his class room without anyone asking him to. It makes me really proud to know that he is being a good boy.
Cameron has been so helpful lately. On Friday he got Landon ready for school and took him to the bus stop so that I could sleep in. Yesterday he got his "room" cleaned and cleaned out the garage.
We've also been having fun with friends lately. I went to lunch at a friends on Friday and had YUMMY pork burritos. That night we went to some friends house and played "Rock Band". It was really fun - there were lots of people there that we haven't seen in a while so it was kind of a reunion! (P.S. now I know why so many people like kereoke!!)
So all in all life's been good. Having sick kids stinks and cleaning out all your closets and cupboards at once stinks but I guess you gotta take the bad with the good!