Short Cuts

I just wanted to put this picture here, because it is cute. It really has nothing to do with this post.

Well, here we were last night going through several rolls (21, to be exact) of film that I have never had developed (I know, I know....). Since I finally got sick of that weighing on my shoulders, I figured I had better do something about it. So, I dropped them off at Sam's Club and the guys face was priceless. I told him that this was 6 years of my life that I needed help developing, and he happily obliged (as the sounds of cash registers were dancing in his head, cha-ching$$)! (There are some great pics that need to be blogged... but, we'll get into that later.)




At any rate, we came across a stack of pics taken at Universal Studios and DisneyLand. As luck would have it Addison said to me that she really liked her hair in one particular picture. It was cute and short. (Inside I was beaming, since I have wanted to cut her hair for a while now.) So, I asked her if she wanted to get it cut again. She said yes. If it hadn't been 1030pm I probably would have left skid marks in the driveway to go get it done before she changed her mind. But I let my own conscience prevail, and said she could sleep on it and decide again in the morning. She did, and she said okay.... so here we were this morning:





And Now:



I am loving this cut. It just goes to show that Addie looks better with short hair than long hair. I LOVE IT!

Super Bat/Fire/Man

Here he comes to save the day! It's Super Bat/Fire/Man!

What's so special about him, you ask? Well, he's the only person that can sense a fire, fly to it and put it out all in a single bound... or something like that.

Why just have a look-see. The things boys dream up.

Number One Issue for Voters in 2oo8

WARNING: CONTAINS ADULT LANGUAGE- but is funny nonetheless.


Poll: Bullshit Is Most Important Issue For 2008 Voters

Going Green

As with most children over 18 months, Jackson likes to unroll the toilet paper and leave it in a large pile on the floor. I admit that over the past few months, I have thrown away more toilet paper than my depression-raised grandmother (or Al Gore, for that matter) would like. After all, who wants to use toilet paper that has been on the ground? I didn't think so.

At any rate, I think my older 2 kids got tired of my wasteful ways. This morning I walked into the bathroom and found :


When questioned as to what happened, they told me that they were just trying to "help us not waste the toilet paper". Since they couldn't roll it back up (too hard) they thought they might just drape it all over the bathroom. I had to laugh since the visual of how one might employ such TP when planted on the toilet, came to mind.

My children are now, in effect, treehuggers. I am so proud.

Frosty's Down

I am gonna scream. Some neighborhood brat knocked our snow person down. Whoever that is better pray that I don't find out who they are. Because when I do, there will be paybacks.... and you know how those go. (No thinly veiled threats here... just death and destruction!)

Snowfolk and such

Snow tantrum courtesy of Braxton.

So, first thing this morning my phone rings and it's my sweet BFF calling to see if I want to have her DH come down and snow blow my drive and sidewalks (again). (I mean to tell you, what would I do without them?) Of course I say, "Uh, No. Surely it isn't THAT bad, right?" She tells me, "12 feet bad", which I knew not to be the case since my roof was indeed holding up. (My mind now rewinds to the time when I was in High School and my dad had to climb up on our roof and shovel the snow off or, in his words, "if I don't, all hell is gonna break loose".) I knew she was lying, but I eventually discovered that she was not off by much. You see, the snow started off rather innocently enough, a flake here and a flake there. Last night I watched our fair Kevin Eubank as he eluded to the idea of a bunch of snow all around. But truthfully, I wasn't buying what he was selling, even if he did have that damn white coat on. You see, recently (more often than not) the SLC weather boys have gotten it all wrong. (Chicken Little comes to mind, "The sky is falling... the sky is falling!" Yeah, right.)

Well, this time the sky DID fall. In fact, it came crashing down and it all happened right in my front yard. Joon wasn't kidding, it was/is bad. Considering I grew up in Utah, one would think I would know a thing or two about blustery winter days. And I do.... except that we moved to Henderson, NV for a few years where the only thing I had to shovel was the occasional dog poop off my grass. Yeah, I would say that I became somewhat spoiled. I know, I have lived back in Utah for over 3 years, and you might think I would have brains enough to have invested in a snow shovel by now. Not so much. I am holding out... surely with all this global warming hoopla, sooner or later I will have tropical winters, right? That is what I am holding out for. But in the mean time, I will tell you how I got to rolling snowballs in my front yard today.



We built a snowperson. (That's right, a snowperson.... just in case the PC police are afoot.) I mean, what else you gonna do when your walks are completely covered with snow and you don't own a snow shovel? I certainly thought it was a brilliant plan to remove most of the 10+" of snow off the walks and then finish it off with the flat garden shovel. I have to say that it worked very well. I really enjoyed being a snow bunny once again, but more than anything I enjoyed not slipping on my own walkway. So, when I wake up tomorrow morning really sore, I am gonna regret it. But for now, it really was fun and we enjoyed working together as a family to get it finished quickly (before I lost my steam, and temper). Now, if someone comes by and takes it out, I am gonna break some tender limbs. So, fair warning: don't get any ideas!

My Recent Diagnosis

Recently, I was diagnosed with C. A. A. D. D. - Child Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:

I decide to do the laundry. As I start toward the laundry room, I notice that there are cheerios all over the floor and my car keys are in the cereal bowl. I decide to pick up the cheerios before I do the laundry. I lay my car keys down on the counter, put the cheerios in the trash can under the counter, and notice that the trash can is full. So, I decide to take out the trash. But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the trash I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my checkbook off the table, and see that there is only one check left, my extra checks are in my desk in the office/playroom, so I go to my desk where I find a sippy cup full of juice.

I'm going to look for my checks, but first I decide I should put sippy cup in the refrigerator to keep it cold. As I head toward the kitchen with the sippy cup, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye --they need to be watered.

I set the sippy cup on the counter, and I discover baby wipes that I've been searching for all morning. I decide I better put them back in the bathroom, but first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the wipes back down, fill a container with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote, one of the kids left it on the kitchen table. I realize that after school when they go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote as they fight over who lost it, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.

I splash some water on the flowers, but most of it spills on the floor. So, I set the remote back down, get some paper towels and wipe up the spill.

Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do. At the end of the day: the laundry isn't washed, the bills aren't paid, there is a warm cup of juice sitting on the counter, the flowers aren't watered, there is still only one check in my checkbook, I can't find the remote, I can't find the wipes, and I don' t remember what I did with the car keys.

Then when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired.

Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming.

Ron White on Flying

Jack n' Flops

Our dog "Mr. Flops" has been a fabulous addition to our house. Jack is in love with him and the other kids regularly play with him and take care of his maintenance issues, like the hole we found by his tail. I was able to stitch it up in no time and 'voila!', good as new. You can't do that with a real dog.

(Exaggerated pause for the mental imagery.)

At any rate, we now have run into a few problems. Mr. Flops sleeps in the same room as Jack and Braxton. No problem there, really- I mean he is an over sized stuffed dog toy who makes no noise. The problem I am having is that one day right before Jack went to sleep, Braxton introduced Jack to the pleasures of having a really soft, doggie shaped pillow in his crib. (GASP!!) I know, I KNOW! You don't need to tell me- I have the motherly internal movie player that allows horrific incidents involving my children to play right before my eyes as a warning of what could come, or might possibly happen due to my poor mothering. (Come on, you know you have that too!)

So, after a lengthly conversation with Braxton on the virtues of not smothering your baby brother by allowing Flops to Shack Up with Jack, I thought we had a deal. Well, Jack liked the idea of having Mr. Flops in his crib. At this point I had a clear cut, moral dilemma. Banish Flops to the basement, or hope that Jack and he could come to an understanding that sleeping together just isn't a good idea. Braxton felt bad for Jack, so this is what I got a glimpse of when I went in to check on Jack yesterday.



Well, it looks as if Mr. Flops is going to the basement. Goodnight, Mr. Flops. We will miss you.

$47.60, Advil and a Handi-wipe.

Whoever said that doing:

doesn't pay... never did it at my house! Look at my take for the day! (Most of it pulled from my uniform pants, jeans and other stuff... but it still makes me happy to find it lying at the bottom of the washer... sort of a reward for doing my job today. aahh.)

New Years Motivators

Since it is a new year, I thought I might share with you some of the funny things I have seen in the past week. This week it was the demotivators found here. While I couldn't find just one, I thought I might throw one in here and there until I am satisfied (or until I get sick of them, whichever comes first).

Swear Fudge

This is the time of year I wait for. You do NOT understand. Ryan's Aunt's (Barbara and Skippy) make us (everyone) fudge, usually ending up in us judging who has the best roll. All the while, making sure that we eat enough just to be certain that we are, in fact, sure of the results. That being said, each year there is nearly a fight over this fudgy masterpiece. Like I said, you do not understand. Apparently it is impossible to make this fudge. Trust me- we've tried. I did today- thrice. All three went to sugar- arrrgh! It's okay, my sister-in-law (who is the reigning Martha Stewart of the family) couldn't make it either. Apparently the recipe that they gave us is written in code so that none of us can make it. And when those aunties die, they better leave the secret 2 lines that they forgot to submit when they sent in the recipe!! At best the recipe is vague and open to too much interpretation. I need numbers, dang it!!

So, my niece Erinn, 17 (I think.. I know, if I were a better aunt I might know this information.) and I are trying to make this fudge the other night. By the time all was said and done, nearly everyone in the whole room had sworn at least once. (I'm telling you- we were a bunch of swear boxes!) My niece looks up and said that we need to name it "Swear Fudge". I do believe the name stuck. Swear fudge it is.

Neighborhood snowball fight!

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Cookies!!!

Jackson is by far my nosiest and 'gotta keep on top of' kid ever. This kid also loves his food. Listen to him as he stands on top of the chair and he notices what awaits him on the table.