Bloggy Awards

My dear friend Emily nominated me for a bloggy award. I thought it was fun to be given an award! Emily is my idol. I think she is such an amazing mother, and she is always thinking of others. She also taught Hailey to ride a 2-wheeler so she is my hero on top of everything else.

First of all, here are Rules:

1.The winner puts logo on her/his blog.

2.Link the person you received your award from.

3.Nominate 7 other blogs.

4.Put links of those blogs on yours.

5.Leave a message on the blogs of those you’ve chosen.

My favorite blogs to read are what I will catagorize as "mommy blogs" It is hard to narrow it down to just seven because I really enjoy reading about all of your experiences but rules are rules so-

The nominees for best mommy blogs are:

1. The Nat Pack- Natalie is the most creative blogger I know. She has a great optimism and sense of humor towards motherhood. If you want a good laugh, spend some time reading her blog.

2. Petersen 1/2 Acre- My sweet, clean, self proclaimed germ-a-phobe friend Jodi and her experiences living with a house full of dirt loving boys.

3. Pumpkin-on-board- Meghan and I have been friends since high school and although many years and many miles have spanned between us, I still think of her as a close friend. Her blog is about her experience getting pregnant after a heart-breaking miscarriage, her pregnancy, having a premie, and now bringing her baby home from the hospital.

4. Pettingill Family- Zoe is probably my closest friend outside of family here in Idaho. She has 4 kids close to my kids age, our husbands went to school together as kids, and I just really click well with her. Life has been so busy since I have had Lilly that I haven't been doing enough with her, I think it's time for another game night with the Pettingills!

5. Castillo Family Blog- Jamie and I worked together right after I graduated from High School. I admire her strength. Now she is a mother of 2 with strong family values living in California, where in my opinion it is hard to keep a family together because traditional families are deffinetly in the minority.

6. We Love This Crazy Life!- These are some of our friends from Dental School. They have twin girls and a little boy and are expecting their 4th child, a little girl soon. Karen also has a great humor about life.

7. The Olsen Family- My college roommate who now has a little girl, and a little boy on the way. She has also started her own business from home selling binky clips and diaper bags and bracelets and bows for little ones.

Still Alive...

So I have wanted to blog about so many things over the past however long it has been since I last posted, but life has been so crazy I just haven't had time. Here are some of the events of the last little bit...

1. My Washer is not working, this actually happened on Saturday 2 weeks ago, but anyway, here's what happened: woke up and put a load in and then, F-20 Water intake problem, tried to fix it myself, called a repair guy, diagnosed it, didn't have the right part, ordered it, did some laundry at my cute sister-in-law's house, waited, came and fixed it 13 days after initial problem, put another load in worked fine, 2nd load...F-20, called repair guy said he couldn't come back until he had another work order, called company for work order, said they couldn't do anything till the old order cleared out of the system and to call back in 24 hours, got mad, left for Utah, am back now, still no washer :(

2. Went to 3 BYU games in wich we DISTROYED the other teams. Okay, technically the first one was in August, but you get the point. The last two Saturday's we have had back to back shut outs against UCLA and Wyoming. Allan and I have awesome tickets, we sit at about the 45 yard line and in the last row of the bottom bowl. Allan's family has 8 tickets together right there. We love these seats, we are high enough to have a great view of the field and are on the back row so we don't have people climbing over us constantly. Now for the kicker, each game we have unlimited access to an air-conditioned tent for a huge buffet before the game with a different featured item each game, salads, carved meats, drinks, ice cream, and desserts...oooohhhhh the desserts...white and dark chocolate fountains with strawberries and bananas and pineapple and marshmallows and pretzels, fudge, chocolate and sugar cookies with white chocolate/creamcheese and fruit topping, then at our seats we get a little bag with water and snacks and a free drink coupon, then at half-time, we go back to the tent for hot dogs, brats, popcorn, and more chocolate fountain and desserts, then durring the third quarter they bring us ice cream to our seats, then after the game we cam go to the tent for veggies and dip and cookies and brownies and milk. The tent also has big screen tv's throughout so we can watch the game, other games, and the post game. We take Lilly to the games and the older kids get to hang out with my parent's who live in Lehi.

3. Ally started a neighborhood preschool and last week it was at my house. We are rotating each week so for 5 of the weeks she goes to another house. The theme was language and we did lots of fun things like make pictures of the kids and had them practice telling about themselves, did rhyming and nursery rhymes, practiced folowing directions and had a treasure hunt, catagorized different things by color and type of things and more, and now I am just happy it will not be here for 6 more weeks because it was a lot of work.

4. Started a foods class at BYU-I. My education has been a really interesting journey. I started off as a ElEd major and then after a year and a half took a 7 year hiatus. When I went back I decided to do PPE (preschool) but then decided I didn't want to do that either, and changed to Family and Consumer Science Education Composite (a fancy way to say Home Ec) Anyway, I have been taking 1 class a semester and in about 20 years I may have a degree.

5. Hailey lost her first tooth. Funny story: She lost her tooth at school, and the teacher put it in a baggie that she insisted on carrying around with her all over the place. Her and Ally were out swinging and Hailey dropped the baggie and told Ally to pick it up. Ally held it upside-down and said tooth fell out. Much crying. That night I helped her write a note to the tooth fairy and we put it under her pillow. So in the morning I went in to wake her up for school and told her to check and see if the tooth fairy came. She found a dollar, and kept looking through the blankets and sheets and asked me to look on the floor and see if anything fell down there. I assured her that the tooth fairy probably only left a dollar. It was the funniest response.

6. I canned more green beans and tomatoes. We have now gotten about 30 quarts of green beans and 25 quarts of tomatoes from our garden.

So anyway, between being mom and school and preschool and trips to Provo, it has been a crazy couple of weeks. This week my goal is to re-potty-train Nataile. We will see how that goes. I also have to help out in Hailey's and Ally's classes.

Where were you?

20 Years Ago…

1. It was 1988 and I was in the 2nd grade and was always getting in trouble for talking too much in Mrs. Wilke's class.

2. Marci V. was my best friend.

3. Mrs. Wilke would read us books while one of the students rubbed her shoulders.


10 Years Ago…

1. I was a senior in High School at Bonita High School.

2. I was a Varsity Song Leader (cheer) for the second year.

3. I was a peer coach, instructional aide, and did statistics for the freshman basketball team.

5 years ago…

1. I was pregnant with our 2nd baby, Ally.

2. We had just moved to Fort Lauderdale so Allan could go to Dental School.

3. I was praying for a friend.

3 years ago…

1. I was pregnant with our 3rd baby, Natalie.

2. I spent almost everyday with Amber, my best friend and answer to my prayer. (BTW, she
moved to Fort Lauderdale 4 months after us, I believe I prayed her and her family there, they left a year before us)

3. I had just got called to teach the CTR 6-7 and 7-8 year olds.

1 year ago…

1. I was pregnant with our 4th baby, Lilly. (anyone noticing a pattern here)

2. We had just moved into our house, here, in Idaho Falls and Allan started working for Indian Health Services.

3. Hailey started Kindergarten, and I was her room mother.

This year so far…

1. I went back to school and changed my major twice.

2. I started blogging .

3. Hailey started going to school all day, I am her room mother again, Ally is going to 2 preschools, Natalie was potty trained and now isn't, but I have to start that again, and Lilly is getting bigger and starting to play more.

Yesterday…

1. Was Ally's first day of Joy School.

2. I went shopping and got 2 new pairs of Jeans.

3 We took family pictures.


Today…

1. I have 2 kids throwing up.

2. I have got to go make my car payment and take Lilly for her 4 month check up.

3. I need to clean my house after having lots of company for the last week. (My Aunt Valli and her daughter Kristina who started at BYU-I this week-Thursday and Friday, My Niece Anna and Nephew Asa-Saturday and Sunday (and the bulk of the reason I need to clean my house) and my Parents-from Sunday until they left this morning.)

Tomorrow…
1. Let's be honest, probably still cleaning my house, especially because of the extra laundry from house guests and throw up.

2. Hopefully Robin and I will go for a walk since we weren't able to today and it got cut short yesterday!

3. Maybe I will can some Tomatoes.

Next Year…

1. We're going to DISNEY WORLD!

2. I probably will get pregnant

3. Either we will have gotten loan re-payment and/or a raise, or Allan will get a new job.


I tag…

1. Natalie

2. Kristen

3. Really, all of you. This was fun to think back on, even if just for myself.

A NOT So Lovely Morning

The Scene: My Bedroom
The Time: 4:30 am
I am already up, feeding the baby for the 2nd or 3rd time, (I have stopped keeping track for my own sanity)
Hailey shows up at the door. I say, "come on in and lie down." I keep feeding the baby, but am thinking, "man, this kid smells like pulled pork (dinner) did we not wash her up after dinner or what?" I get up and put the baby back in bed and Hailey drops the bomb.
"Mom, I threw up in my bed."
I think, "This is information I could have used before I asked you to lie down in my bed," but I say, "okay, I'll go check it out, why don't you go change your jammies and get a drink of water."
I go into their room, Natalie is asleep on the floor, I am not quite sure why, Ally is asleep in the bottom bunk, I look to see if Hailey had been sleeping with Ally or on the top bunk. She was on the top bunk. I assess the damage.
Hailey had thrown up twice, once down the side of the bed and the other time right in the middle of her bed. There is throw up on 3 sheets, 2 mattresses, down the wall, 1 pillow, one blanket, one turtle and all of it's clothes, and in the bed rails. Ally is crying, and I ask her what's wrong.
"My tummy hurts"
"Are you going to throw up?"
"No"
"What's wrong?"
"I'm thirsty"
Okay, that is fixable, I go and get her a drink, and she is back asleep.
I move Ally to Natalie's bed and leave Natalie on the floor. Took off all of the sheets and blankets and threw them in the bath tub. Wipe up all of the excess throw up with dry paper towels, get some wet rags and scrub the mattresses and walls and bed rails, rinse out the sheets and start the washer, and clean out the bath tub.
Well, I am up now, I look at the clock: 6:00, what a wonderful start to my day...Now that I am done bloging about it (in not nearly as creative a way as Nat of The Nat Pack could do) I am going to go get my family breakfast and start on the rest of the day. Wish me luck!

Hair Bow Give Away!

My college roommate started her own company of hair bows and pacifier clips etc. She is doing a give away. Go here http://www.polkadotsnpacifiers.com/ and see.