Quirks Tag

I was tagged to do a list of six of my "quirks." Are you serious? Do I really have to tell you what makes me weird? Thank goodness it's only limited to six. I'm as weird as they come. So here it goes (to my own embarrassment):

~ I eat toast and chocolate milk ALL.THE.TIME. I love the stuff. And my kids are inheriting my oh-so-healthy habit.

~ I leave the TV on all night just to have the noise. It started when Bill used to work all night and I was alone. I needed the noise to keep me company (and to keep the Boogey man away) but the habit has carried over. I have a hard time sleeping if there isn't a little noise. I'm a freak.

~ I pick the dead skin off of my feet all the time. I can't help it. Bill is always trying to get me to just put lotion on my feet, but that rough skin makes me crazy. When I went to get a pedicure for my b-day, the girl doing it said that my feet were so smooth and that there wasn't much to "buff" off of my heels. Yeah, 'cuz I already took care of peeling it and cutting it all off!:) Gross, I know. I never said this list was going to be fun.

~ I always wind my kids up right before bed. It makes no sense, but I do it almost every night. I think it makes Bill nuts. But I can't resist those last few giggles at the end of the day.

~ I can't handle it when I am in a store and someone is gabbing on their cell phone and doesn't acknowledge the checker (or when the checker won't acknowledge the customer.) Ticks me off! What ever happened to, "Thank you. Have a nice day?" My kids even say that when we go to the store. So do me a favor, will you, and smile and try to talk to the checker the next time you go to the store. And if the checker is onry, offer to buy them a bottle of water or their favorite candy bar. They love that! And it makes everyone that much happier.

~ And the last one: When I am nervous or stressed out, I totally claw the heck out of my hands. I guess inflicting pain on myself takes my mind off whatever is stressing me out? After I had Lana, the nurse looked at my hands and said, "Did you do that?" My hands were bleeding and I didn't even realize how much I had dug at them. I can't believe I don't have scars all over my hands from digging them. I need a new nervous habit.

So there you have it. Six of the things that make me weird. (Yep, they are kinda boring, but I wasn't going to tell you the REALLY embarrassing ones!) Now, if you feel like playing along, I would love to hear some of your quirks!:)

Our "Big Boy"

See that picture of that sweet boy? This is how he has looked for the last two and a half years - BINKIE in the MOUTH!!! The kid LOVES his binkie! And I mean LOVES it! And not only does he love it, but I think the kid NEEDS it. I feel like it has helped him get through the "being booted out of being the baby" so young stuff. He was so small when Kate was born and I still feel guilty that I ruined him for life. Obviously he doesn't have too much animosity toward Kate. He even shares his favorite pillow and blanket with her. Awwww, sweet.

On to the point...We have thought about making him get rid of the binkie for a while but it just hasn't felt like the right time. And before you judge me as a bad parent, know that I know he can't take the thing to kindergarten and that sometimes you have to do hard things as a parent. Blah, blah blah... I've heard it all, but he's my kid and it's just not something I have felt right about pushing.

But lately Bill has been trying really hard to encourage Hayden to give up the binkie in a nice, fun "man to man" sort of way. It's sweet to watch, and it is time to at least cut back on the "binkie time." It is starting to rub his chin raw. So Bill will ask him for his binkies and tell him he is a "Big Boy" and that he doesn't need it. He does okay if he is kept busy or has food to shove in his mouth. But every once in a while he still needs it.

Like yesterday he gave it to me when he woke up and said, "I Big Boy. Lotion on a chin," and he went and put lotion on his chin. SOOOO sweet. So at about noon, he started looking panicked and had these big ole tears in his eyes. I couldn't figure out what he wanted, but when I finally figured out that it was the binkie, he was so relieved and settled down for a nap.

Then today, he gave it up right when he woke up. It was the same as yesterday. But about fifteen minutes later, he was walking all over the house saying, "I Big Boy, I Big Boy," with a sad little look on his face. He is trying so hard, the cute thing. So we are trying to encourage him to get rid of it and to help him along if he wants to try, but here's my question:

I want to replace it with something to try to keep him occupied and to be a "Big Boy" sort of reward at the same time. Got any ideas? I really think that if we are taking away something that is such a comfort to him and that he needs so much we need to put something in its place. So if anyone has any fun ideas that we could use to replace it with, I'd love to hear them. I've thought of sippy cups, a blanket, a "Cars" toy, and lots of other things, but I would love to hear other ideas.

Ready...GO!!! Get the creative ideas coming my way PLEASE!

Just a little P.S. We are going to try to ENCOURAGE Hayden to get rid of his binkie if HE is ready. But I am a firm believer in waiting until your kid lets them know they are ready for a new phase (potty training, giving up the binkie, etc.) I know we have to help him along, but I just don't think it's a big deal to get rid of the binkie yet. So we will see how this goes. But I really do think that he needs something to replace it with when it is gone, so I am still looking for ideas. Thank you for the ideas so far. They are awesome!:)

Halloween '08

This is quite possibly going to be one of the longest posts ever, but I gotta do it since this is our family history. Here is our Halloween this year:

Thursday night, Bill came home with these awesome Fall flowers for me. The man knows how to start my not-so-favorite-holiday off right!:)

Then that night we carved pumpkins (and I didn't take pictures because I had pumpkin guts all over my hands!) Next year...

When we woke up yesterday morning, the kids were super excited (and so was I because, after all, Halloween IS my favorite holiday!) Bill had the day off and we had my sister and her family coming over for a party and they couldn't wait!

We started with the good-ole sugar cookie decorating. Hayden thought it was fun to play with the candy we were using to decorate with before we got out the frosting. But as soon as the actual frosting part began, he was outta there. Nice try, Honey.

And what would pictures of frosting cookies be without at least one of a kid licking their fingers?

Our next activity was a coloring contest. Judging by this picture, it was obviously the hit of the party. Uh, let's move on...


The kids were excited about the donut eating contest. We let them each pick which one they wanted.

There was no way Hayden was playing the silly game. He wasn't wasting time getting that donut goodness in him!:)

And we got Kate situated with a donut and a lovely Christmas bib.


And ready, set, EAT!!!!!

Lana, you're cheating. This is supposed to be "No Hands!"


Lana got full after eating half of her donut, so she gave it to Little Sis to finish it off. Kate loved it! It even had mini M&M's on it!

And this is what she looked like by the time she was finished! No face paint needed for Halloween! Just give the girl a donut!

After the kids had the donuts washed off of their faces, hands, clothes, hair...they did a fun treasure hunt that grandma made for them. They always love a good treasure hunt, and my mom is the queen of them. She gave them bunches of candy and fun prizes at the end. It was great! So here she is with all of her adoring grand kids: (Hayden, Lana, McKenzie, Kate, Isaak, Brielle, Kailie, and Rylee) Getting eight kids to all smile and look at the camera at the same time is officially impossible.

Thank you, mom and Tai and Mike, for coming over for the party. We loved having you and you made the kids' Halloween so much fun!

After the party, it was time to eat and get ready for the ward sidewalk trick-or-treat and carnival. We made home-made pizzas and got the kids all gussied up. Rylee and Lana were feelin' the Halloween love.

Lana went as Dorothy (and loved every minute of it!)


Rylee went as a ballerina. (Go ahead, you can be impressed. Non-crafty me DID make her Halloween costume this year.)

Kate was a cute little ladybug. This was the best picture I could get of her. She HATED the hat on her costume. And we seem to have a problem keeping our holidays straight. Now she is holding an Easter egg. What the heck?

And Hayden went as Mater. He didn't want his picture taken either, so this is the best we got. He looked so cute though!

And here are all of our little stinkers ready to go get their haul of candy.

The trick-or-treating was a lot of fun, and the carnival was a blast. They just had it in our cul-de-sac. They had classic carnival games (fishing pond, cake-walk, ring toss, etc.) as well as a bounce house and the best smelling cotton candy and popcorn. It was great! The kids loved it!

My friend, April, joined us for all the fun and by the end of the night, Kate would not let go of her. She threw the biggest fit when April left. Sorry that you had to hold my kid all night, April. But she was such a good sport about it all, and we loved having her.

Bill's parents came over to see the kids as well. Lana loves snuggling up to her grandpa.

Bill's mom was good to play on the floor with Rylee and Hayden while Hayden drew on his new "McQueen" notebook and played with his new "Mack" truck. They look so tired! It was a long day!

And, whew, Halloween is over for another year! It was a fun-filled day with family and friends and freakish amounts of food that filled us up so much that we won't need to eat until Thanksgiving. Thank you to all of you who shared your day with us! We loved it!

I'm Trying To Be Cool...

...Before this hectic week is over and I turn into a mean mommy again.

Yesterday I got this crazy idea to make a pumpkin cake for dessert. My dang camera batteries were dying, so I didn't get cute pictures of the kids eating the cake. I had my sister and her family over for dessert and we had a good time. So, along with my one dang picture of the cake just picture six little girls and two sweet little boys playing dress-ups, having tea parties, and a bloody nose or two and you have our get-together.

Yep, there's me being festive (or attempting it!) But I am trying to be a good mom and have fun with the kids. Trying is the key word here.

And wanna hear what else? Stephanie and I checked out our girls from school today and took them to see HSM3. The girls have been dying to see it and were so excited that it came out over the weekend. So, what's a mom to do when her daughter wants to see a movie, but mommy is too lazy to fight crowds to get tickets on the opening day? Yep, you check them out of school and go when the theater is dead! So, we surprised them today and did just that. This is the four of them just before we left the school.

And in the parking lot before we left to go to Maverik on the way to the theater (so we could buy drinks to sneak in, of course!) They are so darling!

And now, I think I need to save my "good mommy" energy. I have a week that includes a Halloween parade on Thursday, followed by Lana's preschool Halloween thing that same morning. Then the actual Halloween day with all of its sugar is just enough to make this mommy tired and grumpy. I will put on a smile and keep trying to be a cool mommy for the rest of the week and have a festive spirit.

Then I get to welcome my old, grumpy mommy self back next week.:) No more being fun and festive until Thanksgiving.

Red Ribbon Week

I love Red Ribbon Week! The kids all get to do something fun with their clothes each day of the week (along with some other fun activities.) Here is a rundown of the week:

Monday was WEAR RED day. So, obviously, we wore RED!!! I even took pictures of Rylee's hair because she made sure that the hair was even appropriate for each day. Funny girl.

And don't forget the nails. They too MUST be RED!

And the cute little group Rylee walks to school with. This is her and Amelia and another cute little boy in the neighborhood. They all looked so cute in their red attire.

Tuesday was "Drugs Will Turn Your Life Inside Out and Upside Down Day." So, we had her wear her clothes inside out. The tank top that is on the outside is usually underneath the long sleeve shirt, and her pants were turned inside out.

Then we did her hair in "upside down" French braids. She LOVED this one!



And, again, the three cute, crazy kids! Look how funny they are. Amelia kept putting her hood over her face since it was on backwards. But I made her put it down so I could get her cute face. It was funny to see all of them giggling because their clothes were so funny that day. They were HYPER that morning! It was great!

Wednesday was walk to school day and they were supposed to wear green to symbolize healthy choices over drugs. So, here are all of the kids in their green attire getting ready to "walk to school," (like that is out of the ordinary!):

Thursday was "Hugs, Not Drugs Day." They wore their pajamas to school and took a stuffed animal. I LOVED this day. There is something so great about wearing pajamas to school!

The whole group thought it was great too! They are so cute. It will be a sad day when they think they are too big to carry a stuffed animal to school for fun.

And today was "Sock it to Drugs and Alcohol Day." They were supposed to wear crazy socks. Here's Rylee!

And a close-up of the socks:

I couldn't get a group shot today because I had to take Rylee to school this morning so she could take a project and not ruin it. This leads me to our other fun story for the week...

Today they could choose to participate in a "Creature Feature" contest in which they were supposed to make something out of fruits and vegetables to help remind them to make healthy food choices. I was NOT HAPPY about helping Rylee last night. She insisted on participating in this, and I just was not in the mood and am definitely NOT creative. I was paralyzed. So this is what we came up with:

So we drive to school today, and I reminded her to not feel bad if she didn't win a prize. I was not feeling confident about our creation at all, but she participated and had to be happy with that. So, she comes home from school today all excited with a huge bucket full of stuff (really, LOTS of stuff) and says that she won first prize for "Most Colorful." I had to laugh. It would win first prize for THAT. It may not be pretty, but it sure is colorful! Hehehe.

Bubble Butts

Last night, while the two younger kids were being sweet and playing the way little kids should,

Rylee got a brilliant idea. "Hey, let's get these innocent little toys and turn them into something that is more fun!"

And then, of course Lana had to get in on the fun.

Is she sticking out her belly to balance the weight the way I do when I'm pregnant?

She's a little uneven. Maybe some more lunges on that right side?

Yep, they definitely take after their mom. Big buns and all. That does give me an idea though. I am "chestily challenged" (yeah, I know that totally isn't a word, but it is the best way I can describe it.) Maybe that is what I should stuff my bra with. And they come in all different sizes! Okay, I'll just quit now. This is going nowhere fast!

HOLLA!!!

My MOM has decided to cave and join the blogging ranks. So, will you all go and give her little "Hello and welcome to the world of blogging" for me? I would really appreciate it. I want her to love it and get hooked like the rest of us!

I am so proud of her. She is not very comfortable AT.ALL. with computers, so this is a leap for her. YEAH to her for learning something new!

Go MOM!!!