Happy 12th Birthday, Abby Girl!

Yesterday was Abby's 12th birthday. It was a huge weekend for us...she graduated 6th grade on friday, got her ears pierced saturday, and graduated from primary on sunday, on to Young Women's! I can't believe my little girl is so old! I am definitely NOT in the "young mom" category anymore! Yikes...
12 super awesome things I love love love about my Abby girl!
1. She is my right arm. She is so very helpful, always willing to tend and help with her younger siblings.
2. She is (almost) always smiling! She has a great attitude about life, and is willing to try just about anything...and with a smile!
3. She has a lot of confidence. She feels good about herself and it shows, in a good way...
4. She is athletic.
5. She is smart.
6. She is very likeable.
7. She plays piano well.
8. She is a great big sister!
9. She is very insightful. She knows alot about a variety of different subjects.
10. She is beautiful, and dresses modestly.
11. She has a good sense of humor.
12. She loves her grandparents, is respectful to them, and LOVES spending time with them.

Oh, I could go on forever! Abby was sent to Brandon and I when she was for a reason. We are so blessed to have her, and so grateful for the positive influence she is in our family!

I love you, Ab!

Tagged by Angie b.

I like getting tagged.


A - Four places I visit over and over:

1. I'm with Angie--Target

2.Yellowstone National Park

3. Grand Teton National Park

4. ummm...the bathroom?

B - Four people who email me the most:

1. Abby

2. Dad

3. Random book-club pals

4. Tara (sporadically)

C - Four of my favorite foods:

1. chocolate desserts (NOT ice cream)

2. Shrimp

3. nachos

4. hummus (I could eat it with a spoon!)

D - Four places I'd rather be right now:

1. bed

2. bajio's

3. out in the sunshine

4. i guess I'll copy angie here, too, Target. even though I've already been today, I didn't get to shop around much...Will had to catch the bus!

E - Four movies I'd watch over and over: (I am not a movie person, for some reason. these are ones I have seen over and over...and would willingly see again!)

1. Hairspray

2. Elf

3. The Pink Panther

4. Drive Me Crazy

F - Four Bands/Groups that I love to listen to:

1. Indigo Girls

2. Lenny Kravitz

3. Simon and Garfunkel

4. Tracy Chapman

G - Four People I'm tagging:

1. Shaury (you know you love it)

2. Jenny K.

3. Ginger

4. Amy P.

Fun stuff!

Coconut Shrimp!!!!

Wahoo! I just made my trial run of coconut shrimp...it is verrrrry yummy and was so fun to make! BUT Brandon and I aren't going to be able to eat it all, I don't think. Thank you Jeni and sister-in-law, I can't wait to make it again on Saturday. If anyone is reading this before 4:00 on thursday, come get a free sample! :)

Memorial Day Part II

My Grandma, Nelva Steed Birt, was one of my very favorite people. She was honestly an angel here on earth. I have so many great memories of her, since we grew up just "through the field" from her and Grandpa. The house I live in now was their "honeymoon cottage" that they lived in when they were married. I love living here on her land, I think of her daily as I go about my "routine", knowing that she went through a "routine" in this kitchen, too, looked out the same windows as I do, although I know she worked alot harder than I do now!

For the last several years of her life, she had alot of family members that spent many hours caring for her. My mom was one of these people. One of my mom's "tasks" only took place once a year, but became one of my favorite traditions. We used to take her out on memorial day to visit the graves.

I had to smile when I read Ginger's post about visiting the cemeteries with her grandma. Our grandmas were best friends and did everything just alike. Like Ginger said about her grandma, my grandma had beautiful peonies, lilacs and irises that we would cut for that day and put in a can for the graves.

Grandma, my mom and I would then visit the Clinton cemetery. My Grandma was an only child, and her mother died when Grandma was just a girl. (sorry to those that are reading this and may know the facts better than I..) We always visited her grave, and Grandma told us more than once that when she (Grandma) was gone, no one would visit her mother's grave. We promised her we would...Also in the Clinton Cemetery is Grandma Mitchell, who is actually Grandma's Aunt Grace who raised her. She was a wonderful lady and was Grandma to my dad and his brothers and sister.

It was 6 years ago that my grandma died, and my mom and I carried on the tradition of visiting the Clinton Cemetery. That first memorial day she had only been gone for 2 months. We visited her grave first, and then went out to her mothers and Grandma Mitchell's. I felt closer to my grandma there than at her own grave. I knew she was so happy that we had gone there for her.
We still go every year, and my sisters join us, usually. It has definitely become one of my favorite traditions. We have added a couple of stops, of course, we visit Grandma and Grandpa's graves in Ogden, and then visit Lana's in Uintah. It is a time I treasure with my Mom and sisters, as small and short of an outing it usually turns out to be...

Wendy and Mom at Grandma's Mothers grave, Hilda Kirkman Steed. Ralph and Dana had beat us this year! There were already flowers there!


Wendy and me at Grandma and Grandpa's graves. Nelva Steed and John William Birt. Mom was bummed that the Pepsi wagon behind us wasn't even open yet! I think we were record early this year! We usually see the Poll clan there. It was pretty empty at 9 a.m.

Wendy took the picture at Uintah, and I guess she didn't know how to work my camera, because there was no picture on it when I got home...maybe next year!

Memorial Day Weekend Part I

I'm skipping the tuesday tell all this week. It was about graduation. Instead, I have a full weekend to blog about! Saturday, we rode Thomas the Tank Engine...

We figured Willie had about one more year of enjoying Thomas, and Owen is almost old enough to love it. The big girls are always good sports about joining the family for a good time.


They also had a petting zoo up there. Will wanted to pose with every single pony there. Odie took a while to warm up, and Lucy never did get into it.



Then we went to our favorite restaurant in Park City (thanks, Shaur) Baja Cantina, for Abby's birthday, which is next Sunday. She LOVES having birthday songs at restaurants. :)

And of course, being in Park City, I had to shop at the Gap. I just ran in with the older girls while Brandon took the babies and filled up the van with gas, then hit the potties, etc. I only intended on going to Gap, but they split the Gap and Gap Kids, so I wound up going to 2 Gaps, and then Phoebe has been dreaming for several months now of Converse XX Hi-tops (the kind that come up to the knee) and we happened to see some in the window of Journey's, so we went there. BUT they didn't have her size. Only Adult sizes. I have looked online for them in kid sizes, but I really don't think they make them...much to Phoebe's disappointment. I don't know, maybe I should just buy some for Abby and she can hand them down. That way they will be nice and worn in by then?Ahh, the life of a Tween Fashionista. I don't even know what she plans on wearing them with!

Well, since this post is so very long, I think I'll do a separate one later this week about Monday. I also cut Odie's hair, but only have the before picture, because he was too heart broken to let me take a picture after. So was I...

my latest obsessions (besides blogging)

First of all, these. Well, not exactly. I LOVE riesen ( "Storck chocolate Riesen, Mrs. Lange" as the commercial used to go) Also in the family of Werther's Originals. But they have a new chocolate candy not pictured here. I can't find it online. "chocolate caramel dark" is what it says on the wrapper. and it is so delicious. mmm...it has been in the "candy jar" at work this week, and I keep eating and eating and eating it! this is a weird paragraph, but anyways, I'm obsessed with this candy.

My other obsession is this blog. (thanks, Angie P.) I spent all last weekend reading every word of it, and checking out a couple of the links on it. I absolutely love her photography, her style, the way she writes, etc. but it is also heart-breaking. I'm not a big fan of clicking on things intentionally that I know will make me cry, but there is beauty there, too.

And last but not least, after admitting to being obsessed with a stranger's blog...I pose a question...addressed a little in my comment section recently. Is a "lame" comment better than no comment at all? I think yes, definitely, I like to know who's reading. Alot of you can attest to the fact that I have posted my share of lame comments on your blogs! AND just because the commenter thinks it's lame, it really usually isn't to the blog author. I have read several blogs that are just as entertaining in the comment section. I LOVE that on Megan's blog she always responds to comments and has full-fledged conversations going on there. That happens alot on other blogs I read, too. Now I have a good idea of how this "poll" is going to pan out, those who comment regularly will comment again saying "yes! comment!" and those against commenting don't comment anyways, so they will just read and move on...thanks for visiting, and I really am ok with that, but don't be afraid to comment...

I think I will do an actual poll on my sidebar... :)

John William--Tagged!

So I have another tag for y'all! Will was tagged by Brooke a while back...I am now getting around to it because I also want to "report" on his kindergarten program. What is it about that Hawaiian Program by Mrs. Peters? Why do I always find myself wiping tears from my eyes? And the song "King Kamehameha" is like one of my all-time favorite songs! I SO hope my other 2 babies get the same teacher so they can learn that song, too. seriously, it's adorable to hear kids sing it!

Willie was 9 lbs. 14 oz. when he was born. He was huge! and I think 1/2 of that was his ginormous melon! His head is BIG...but I also think alot of it was his heart, Buddy has a huge heart! He has always been very sensitive and loving. Especially when it comes to his mom. He tells me at least 100 times a day that he loves me, and he tells me that we're supposed to do a pattern. Every other time I'm supposed to say "I love you too," and every OTHER time my line is "and I you". He always saves the last cookie, treat or whatever it may be for me, and tries to convince Lucy to give things up for me, too. She of course, would never hear of such a thing!


Buddy is an awesome big brother! He plays so well with Lucy, lately. It's funny, because they can go from playing babies or polly pockets to cowboys or cars. His favorite color was always pink until he started kindergarten, then it changed to red, because that is closest to pink.

Will's favorite thing to do is anything alongside of my dad. Pop is his favorite person, hands down. He has been working with pop since he was 2. I sometimes think he was born in the wrong era. He loves all things cowboy, farm, tractor, etc. He is a really unique kid. His thought process is different than anyone I know. He is very detail oriented. ( I think he gets that from Pop) He tells me things in GREAT detail and sometimes can't spit enough words out to get his point across. He also is a numbers man. He dreams about numbers coming faster and faster so high he can't count them fast enough. He is always asking me to count to infinity. I can't.
Willie loves the Jazz. That also goes along with his numbers thing. He is constantly telling us how much we're winning by. His favorite player is D. Will, mostly because he shares his name.

I had to post this picture because just the other day at breakfast Willie said "I wish it was my birthday, because then I could stand up at the table in my undies!" He is always cracking us up with the crazy things that come out of his mouth. Brandon told him he was going to tell all the girls that when Will is turning 18..."Today's Will's birthday, and he likes to stand up in his undies on his birthday! Come by and see him!" that was so embarrassing to him! "Nooooo, dad!"and last but not least he was determined to be Dracula last Halloween, and had envisioned his exact costume. He told me precisely what it had to be like. He is definitely his own person. To know Will is to love Will. He is my golden boy, and I just can't get enough of him!

Will tags: Christian, Madison and Jonah...and any others who maybe have had siblings already tagged and mom's feel like they want to even it out! ;)

Tuesday Tell All--One Word

Answer the following with only one word.

1. Where is your cell phone? ....................pocket
2. Your significant other?.......................b.
3. Your hair?....................................yikes!
4. Your mother? .................................retiring
5. Your father?..................................worker
6. Your favorite thing?..........................fam
7. Your dream last night?........................none
8. Your favorite drink...........................milk
9. Your dream/goal?..............................fit
10. The room you're in?..........................straightened
11. Your children?.....................................hooligans
12. Your fear?...................................illness
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years...........dayshift
14. Where were you last night?...................irs
15. What you're not?.............................outgoing
16. Muffins......................................monday
17. One of your wish list items?.................dishwasher
18. Where you grew up?...........................awesomest

19. What you read last........................blogs
20. What are you wearing?........................ugly
21. Your TV?.....................................off
22. Your pets?...................................died
23. Your computer? ..............................slow
24. Your life?...................................blessed
25. Your mood?..................................blah
26. Missing someone?.............................Tara
27. Your car?....................................tires
28. Something you're not wearing?................jewelry
29. Favorite Store?..............................Target
30. Your summer?.................................exuberant
31. Like someone?................................lots
32. Your favorite color?.........................yellow
33. Last time you laughed.......................yesterday
34. Last time you cried?.........................marathon

This was hard for me! I guess I'm a wordy gal! In an effort to not be misunderstood, I am an over-explainer...I want to go back and explain myself on most of those! Oh well..I guess that's why my posts always end up longer than I intend, I have to explain and explain and explain some more!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly...

I'm torn about what to post today. Of course I want to report on our half-marathon experience, but I'm not in a very good mood. My last post was a bit of a downer, so I don't want to have 2 of those in a row, but I feel a little phony if I post all happy and smiley today...I came to the conclusion that it can all be summed up and broken down with The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly...
First--THE GOOD:

these are my family members who participated in Saturday's events (minus Abby, Phoebe Jane and Will) Top row is Johnathan (my brothers friend from Texas) who ran the full marathon with Cory, Cameron, my nephew ran the half and was the first to cross the finish line in the fam. Cory, my older, running obsessed brother, who ran the full. Next row is Michael and Wendy...Wendy of course is my sister. She and her husband Michael ran the half. Next is Paige, Cory's wife who ran the half, and then Brandon. Bottom row is Wendy and Michael's little guy Chip, who was very excited to run the Kid K!
Brandon did an excellent job! He had told us 2 hrs. would be best case scenario, but plan on him being closer to 2:30. He crossed the finish line at 1:57:34.75. Awesome! And I'm afraid he's hooked, he's already looking for his next race...
My older 3 kids ran the kid K, and I was so proud of all of them! Little Phoebe was not to excited to participate, and was almost in tears as we dropped her at the starting point, but to my surprise she was the first of the 3 to come into view, with a perfect runners stride and a huge smile on her face! I didn't get her time, but I was way proud of her. I think this will be just one of many this summer for her. Abby, the competitive soul that she is, made me extremely proud, too. Of course I had expected to see her first, and way ahead of Phoebe, but she squelched (temporarily) her strong desire to compete and waited for her little brother, who "cramped up" after about 25 seconds of running. She walked most of the way with him, until the finish was in sight, at which time we spotted her sprinting for all she was worth past all the other little walkers... And little buddy came running to me, beet red in the face, crying, until I pointed that he was almost to the finish line, then he started jogging and actually finished the race. He was the most excited about the race before it started, but turns out it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. I was proud of him for finishing, and he says it was kind of fun, and he does plan on entering more races. Cute little Buddy! :)
All in all, it was a fun family day! I was an absolute horrible picture taker, so I am relying on those pictures taken by other folks...maybe I'll post them later, or link ya'll to their blogs when they post.
I did get this cute shot of our little cheering section! My dad had shirts made for all of us "Big Foot Farms...Run Til You're Done"

now for THE BAD:

It seems I have forgotten what I had in mind to post under the bad, so we'll just leave it as "my mood"...

and THE UGLY:

Yesterday Brandon made Dutch Oven Lasagna and Mississippi Mud Cake for dinner. That wasn't ugly, it was great, but as Odie was digging in, I decided not a good idea to eat lasagna in his sunday shirt, so took it off. No sooner had I done so than he was stung by a bee on his back. That is the 2nd time this month for the poor little guy! Luckily, he is not allergic or anything, so he felt better after a few minutes. BUT later on...Brandon was inside washing dishes and I was out watching the kids enjoy the beautiful weather, and Poor Little Odie decided to try his luck at walking across hot coals! (He must have heard grandma Arnell's success story...) The bottom of his cute little feet are so blistered and sore! We spent the rest of the night sitting on the front porch eating popsicles and watching the other kids play. He is not one to be held, he likes to be out running around with the kids, and kept forgetting about his feet, until he stood up! Poor little guy! And what would we do without Nurse Chris across the street? He was more than willing to come over and take a look at him, and instruct us in caring for Odie. I think we are on his list as the worst parents ever! We are always turning to him with our kid's issues! Can you blame us? Not everyone has a Nurse from Primary Children's living across the street, and related, to boot! Thanks, Chris.
Anyways, Odie is doing much better today. He is not as happy as he usually is, and can only walk on tiptoe. I think he gets tired of that, because every so often he just parks himself somewhere. He slept like our good little Odie last night, but fell asleep for a very early nap at 10:30 this morning, so I know he doesn't feel great...What next?
I saved you all the gore of taking pictures of his burnt little feet...Phoebe has always said gross things make her "bum jiggle" and Will recently said he finally knows what that means..."your bum actually vibrates when you see something yucky!" Well, last night Abby declared that nothing has ever made her bum jiggle, but the sight of Odie's feet did! Poor Odie!
So that's it...perhaps my tuesday tell all tomorrow will bring things up a notch!

1 overtired mom + 2 overtired babies = lots and lots of tears!

Today has been a doozy. At 5:55 a.m. I was awakened by Wordy Will. For some reason he is always 10 decibels louder and 10 times more wordy in the wee hours.
Will: (Very loudly) Mom dad put the heater on instead of the fan when he put us to bed last night and its really hot in our room so i turned it off and i am going to take this pajama shirt off... I'm burning hot.(all run together into practically one word)
Mom: hmmm.
Will: (still standing there, staring)
Mom: its early, bud, go back to bed...not time to get up yet (very slurred and sleepy)
Will heads back to bed.
I was totally out of it and just really wanted to sleep for another hour! then at 6:30 I hear "Drink! Drink!" and see the light show Odie likes to put on when he wakes up. I stumble out of bed and open the door to their room. It is seriously blazing hot in there, like 95 degrees, I'm not even kidding! Odie is wearing a fleece blanket sleeper and his hair is wet with sweat. He's smiling and asking for a drink, so I fill up a gatorade bottle with water from the bathroom and he chugs it! Then Willie rouses around and chugs a bottle of water, too, and we're up for the day, much to my chagrin... I strip odie down and open the window, and down we go to watch Sesame Street, a rare treat in the morning! Of course Lucy can't sleep for 5 minutes without me by her side, so she was up and at 'em, too.
We use a little space heater fan in the boys room at night because they got used to sleeping with the noise of the humidifier in the winter, and we didn't want to risk messing up their good sleep patterns! But we just use the fan...I thought.
So Odie was all happy and cute to be watching sesame street. He hasn't ever watched it before, I don't think. The cute new Abby Cadabby character was on and he loved her and was saying "Abby Dabby Dabby!" and I was thinking "oh, I guess this isn't too bad being up so early!"
Fast forward 1 hour...I'm trying to get ready for the supermarket, Lucy wants to change Odie's diaper all by herself, he of course wants no part of it, somehow they are both crying, and I'm trying to convince them both upstairs to get dressed...in a calm voice for about 30 seconds, escalating to a yell and then a scream MUCH too quickly....I have NO patience when tired, even less than usual.
We somehow got dressed and ready while crying and crying and crying...then Lucy stopped for a split second and I begged, pleaded and bribed her to be a good good girl at the store for mommy. We made it through the store, and managed to get all of our groceries, plus 2 pints of pink milk, 2 boxes of some weird fruit snacks and some reeses pieces besides. Not to mention the plastic cup of teddy grahams Odie brought from home.
I put Odie down at 11, and here he is still snoozing at 2. Lucy fell asleep in my arms while waiting for our cookies to bake. Of course I have to make the ginormous recipe that makes like 100 + cookies so I'm tied to the oven all day long....yummy, though.
I'm headed to work at 2:30 so I can get off early...HUGE day tomorrow, with the big race, and all! I just felt strongly about posting today so I could get my gushy post from yesterday out of first view for the weekend! (Love that little guy!)

Hopefully everyone will catch up on sleep and be ready to run tomorrow...Brandon of course has his mind occupied at present by all things RACE...we'll see how he feels post run.

Good Luck to all Runners!!!! Hopefully we'll see some familiar faces...we'll be the ones in the red big foot farms shirts! Go Team!

Owen Argyle--Tagged!

So back when Ezra tagged Lucy, he also tagged Odie. I'm so excited to brag about my baby!

First and foremost, Owen has been a near-perfect baby. I think he made a deal with God that he would be a good good boy if he was sent to our family. We weren't really sure if we wanted another one, but he has definitely convinced us that we did!


Owen's name is "Odie"...he rarely hears anything else around home. We didn't mean to call him that, but one of the kids started it when he was teensy, and it stuck like no other. Will went through a time of calling him "N" (for O.N.) and even calls him "Guido" sometimes, I think because in Will's head that is a kind of backwards version of Odie? It makes me laugh when he's Guido (am I spelling that right?) Brandon and I also call him "Bodie" on occasion. or Odie Bodie.


Owen is the best sleeper EVER! I never knew it was possible for babies to sleep like he does. He sucked his thumb when he was tiny, so that made for a good sleeper, of course. At around 8 months he gave that up, but continued sleeping like a...well, not like a baby, like a ROCK! Now at bed and nap time, we just go lay him down (not possible with ANY of the others) and give him his 2 na-nights (blankeys) and his monkey. He gets SO excited to see these loveys, that I always swear he is too overly excited to sleep, but the minute I close his door, he is out like a light. I love when I tiptoe into his room a couple of hours later and he hasn't moved a muscle since I layed him there.

He adores his brother and sisters. He shares a room with Willie, and every morning when he wakes up, instead of Mom or Dad, he yells out "Weew! Weew!" (which, I think I've translated before, means Will) and flashes his bedroom light until Will wakes up and comes to get him. Will is also a heavy sleeper, though, so I sometimes have to intercept. He can also open his bedroom door from his crib. Bad placement, I know, but he only opens it after his nap or when he's ready to get up in the a.m.


You know how with babies they go through phases of funny little things they do and say? Right now Odie says Thank you about EVERYTHING! and to everyone. It is so way cute!! We were walking into McDonald's and some stranger was holding the door for us..."tanku" says Odie, and it's even cuter when he puts a name after it "tanku, ucy" and "tanku, Weew" He was stuck in his highchair, and was yelling "Stuck! Stuck!" and after Brandon got him unstuck, he says "tanku, daddy!" Oh, it almost makes me cry just to think about it, it's so dang cute!


Owen is our little ball player. He shoots hoops all day long, if there is a soccer ball around, he will kick it, and he says "Hey, batter, batter, batter" when he sees a bat. He is awesome at making baskets. We call him Korver because of his ability to make 3 pointers (on a baby scale, of course) The girls have taught him how to say every player on the Jazz, and Coach Sloan, too. He loves going to the Jazz games, he sits on Brandon's lap and claps his little hands, and cheers "GO Jazz!" and actually watches as much as the other little ones. He LOVES wearing his Korver jersey, and when Brandon is watching a game on tv he yells GO Jazz!" and "c'mon, BOOZ!" Even if it's not the Jazz playing.


He is a very happy, smiley boy, always just going along for the ride. In and out of the van, the house, the school, and many a ballgame. He thinks everybody loves him because his siblings and me and Brandon watch and laugh at his every move all day long. He constantly has an audience, so when we're in public he sometimes shouts out "Hi!" to strangers. He is my baby boy, and is so very loved! This is getting extremely gushy....sorry, but it will be so fun to come back and read this, even 6 months from now, babies grow and change so fast. I wish so bad I could freeze time and hold onto little Odie at this adorable age for just a little longer...

Owen tags Zac and Faith...have fun, moms!

Tuesday Tell All--Summer Memories

I remember...

Cousins: We spent day after day after day together. Our cousins were our best friends and #1 playmates. With them we did it all...
Riding bikes- we would ride every single day, and I'm pretty sure we all taught ourselves how. Up and down the street, down the "big" hills, around the block, and when we were lucky even up to Ray's and Verg's little restaurant. And then on the front lawn at home we would flip our bikes over and pretend they were ice cream makers.
Kick-the-can-every night in the summer. We had a blast. My brother Larry was always the best player, with strategies and everything. Of course he was older than most of us, and a boy! (Most of the cousins were girls!)
Sleeping out-we slept outside constantly. Once in a while we would get to sleep in the cousin's tent trailer, but most of the time we were under the stars.
Homemade ice cream-a huge family tradition.
4th of July Breakfasts-another family tradition.

Life on the Farm: We had tons of open space to run and play in, and lots of farm experiences most kids never get. (These of course were also with the cousins)
De-horning calves-a very vivid, graphic memory! I remember sitting on the fence in front of the barn watching my dad, uncles and grandpa pull the horns off of the baby calves. It was a big days event. And then of course kool-aid in grandma's driveway.
Feeding baby calves-I remember the smell of the milk grandma would mix up in her driveway with her rotary mixer to put in bottles for the calves, and the cool, musty barn we would stand in to feed them.
Alfalfa-we loved when grandpa cut the hay. The maze created by the windrows was so much fun to run through. And then came the bales, which meant hay hauling day! Another day long event, Wendy and Tiff got to drive the hay truck, we got to ride in the back up top of the truck over to the barn, and then the Kool-aid and grandma.
Water in the ditch-was always a fun time. Sending army guys in boats down to the place where the ditch turned. This was rarely an approved activity.
Playing on the hill-we would run and play and follow deer trails until grandma came out on the front porch and rang the cow bell.
Picking strawberries-I never liked to pick the berries behind the little yellow house, but they sure tasted good! We would throw the rotten ones into the chicken coop. Sunflowers grew up behind the coop, too. After picking we rode on the tailgate of dad's little blue truck with the cases of berries.

Other fun stuff:
swimming lessons-we rode the bus out to the Clearfield Pool. Cousins of course were involved here, too. Wendy had a mean teacher, and we loved to buy Pringles to eat on the way home.
the book-mobile-mom would take us up to the church parking lot to check out books from the traveling library! Does it still come?
SW country fair days-truly the culminating event of the summer. The pageant, posse night, the parade, and the big day at the park on saturday. And the best part is, it's such a great tradition that everything about it now is very much the same as it was back then.

And when I was a little older:
swimming in the river-every day a group of kids would walk past my house on the way to the river. I would put on my Cut-offs and join them. We would jump off the bridge a few times, then walk down the tracks to the "pool" behind Bateman's and swim for hours.
laying out-with my sister and mom-the ever-loving sun worshipper.
the trampoline-many hours spent jumping and doing tricks, even more fun with the sprinkler under it!


I had such a happy, carefree childhood! I wish I could duplicate and re-create it for my kids. Of course times were different back then. I would never dare let my kids sleep outside without an adult, and riding their bikes on the street gives me a heart attack! The river has been filled in under the bridge, but that would scare me anyways! The farm is all but gone...but the cousins still remain, and I live in the same wide open area I grew up in. I hope I am helping my kids create their own fond memories, some similar to mine, some of their very own.

Lucy Belle..TAGGED!

I feel like I talk about Lucy every other post, but Shaury and Ezra tagged her, so bear with me. I'll try to keep it fresh!

When Lucy was just a babe, we called her Lucy Goose, which evolved into Goosey mae, which evolved into Goo Bug, and then Willie started calling her Buggy. That one stuck. She still answers to a load of other nicknames, but, to Will especially, she is Buggy.

I know I've mentioned before how stubborn Lucy is. She has been this way since birth. I remember as a tiny newborn how "feisty" she was, clenching her tiny fists and kicking her little legs. She was also a pretty difficult baby. She knew what she wanted and would cry and cry until she got it. She was absolutely beautiful, though, with tons of crazy jet black hair. I was thinking she would be my one who didn't go blonde...wrong!

Lucy is a very verbal child. As I sit here typing this she is chattering away to herself. She spoke very early, and was using huge words and paragraphs at a very young age. She tells it like it is, and almost every day we have a funny little Lucy quote to share. It makes me sad when kids grow out of saying funny, cute little things! I remember a few months before she turned two, my mom was reading a book aloud to Abby and Phoebe and when they came to the epilogue the girls said "Lucy, can you say epilogue?" and she repeated it as plain as day! She also has been using these vocabulary skills to boss the entire world around for a couple of years now. Not only is she always telling everyone what to do, but how to do it, too. Luckily she has a pretty patient older brother and some easy going cousins that go along with her demands.

Buggy is a horrible sleeper, and always has been! She sleeps with one eye open, I swear. I still rock her for naps, after 3 stories and 3 songs, and Brandon rocks her at bedtime. She will go to sleep if she's laying with one of the girls, too, but we only let her do that on the weekends. Then once we lay her in her bed we have to sneak out. Millions of times she has popped her eyes open the minute I reach her doorway, and then I'm stuck for another 10 minutes! It can be extremely frustrating!

Lucy walked at 10 months, and has always been very coordinated. She has a cute little pigeon toed stance, that probably won't be quite as cute when she is older. She always wanted to dress herself at around 18 months. She would get so frustrated, because of course she couldn't do it quite right, but she wanted to so bad! She is very independent, except when it comes to going to Nursery or Primary. But my theory on that matter is that she is just trying to control me. It works. She knows exactly which buttons to push for me. Brandon is a little more firm with her, she knows she gets her way with me easily.



I love my little Lucy Belle so much! She is definitely a handful, but I see her growing out of her terrible 2's and 3's a little more every day. She is for sure a ray of sunshine in our home!

Lucy and I tag Brookie, Emily P. and Belle! Tell us all about them!

Fabulous Phoebe's Hair Flowers!

Today is the 3rd grade "Buy and Sell" at Phoebe's school. We didn't have any creative ideas about what she should "sell." I wasn't very involved, because of the busy time of year, and during the week I have a hard time "connecting" with my big girls (one of the downfalls of swing shift at the IRS) so we hadn't talked too much about it. Phoebes just kept mentioning "our buy & sell is next week" and "I'm so excited about buy & sell!" But life went on. Then Abby stayed home sick from school on monday, and I was trying to entertain her without constant television. I remembered my friend Ginger's blog, and the Fancy Flowers she showed a while back. I ran to Joann's (on my way to cousin day with my 2 babies, spent without any cousins, for some reason this week) and picked up a few supplies. The flowers were even 50% off! As soon as I got home, Abby and I started making them and soon had a clip and a headband of every color for my girls. and then, AHA! Phoebe could make these for her buy & sell! So on Tuesday when Brandon was home I ran to Joann's and Sally beauty supply and picked up just a few more things and Phoebe was soon making TONS of flower clips. She is so excited, and I can't wait to see how they go. They were super easy Ginger's way, with no hot glue or anything, easy and fast and super cute. Thanks so much for the idea, Ginger. I took this picture of Phoebe's sign really quick before school this morning, but I guess you can't read it. The name for her booth is "Fabulous Phoebe's Hair Flowers"...I was so proud of her creativity! Fun stuff...I just hope she brings some home, because we ended up sending all the ones we made for ourselves, too!
Here is a link to Ginger's blog if you want to check it out. She is always teaching me new things!

In My Hometown...

so I have a fellow blogger who does a tuesday tell-all every week. I loved hers from last week, so I'm joining the fun. this weeks was something about moms, and I feel I share my mommy moments plenty, so I 'm doing last weeks today!

Tell us about your favorites close to home.

Favorite place to...

• grab lunch: Bajio's, hands down. I love everything about Bajio's. Shrimp tacos when it's just me and B, nachos to share with Lucy when we have the kids. It's also Owen's favorite restaurant. He LOVES beans! of any kind. He is my pickiest eater by far, but when it comes to beans, Will says he should be from Mexico.
  
  
• go for a date night: date nights are few and far between for us, because I work friday nights. Jazz games, We love the Union Grill, and have also been known to count Brandon and Brigitte S's hot tub as a date night!

• pick up some creative goodies: I am not creative. I guess I would have to say Joann's because it is so close, but I really don't like the store, I can never find what I'm looking for. I know they have it, I just don't know where...
  

• keep the kids busy: tons of places! the treehouse museum, the library, (we like to go to all of the branches during the summer) the monday night outdoor movies, and of course the garden. My kids are obsessed with Pop's garden right now.




• get wet: good old Classic Waterslides! you can't beat the price of a season pass, and it makes it nice to be able to drop in any time during the summer, even just for an hour or so.
  

• get some fresh air: various hiking trails...I have a book of the best hikes with kids in utah that we are (slowly) working through. I also consult my Pathways in Weber County pamphlet frequently.

• splurge: I'm not really sure about this one. It's not that I don't splurge, maybe it's that I splurge too much, so it doesn't really count as a splurge...that is a weird word when you use it 3 times in one sentence...SPLURGE...I feel like I'm splurging when I fill up my gas tank these days! Oh, I know my answer, Park City! I love to shop and eat there, and then of course the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for caramel apples.
  

• drive for a weekend getaway: these don't happen much in our family, either. All of our trips are just "weekend getaways" so I guess I'll say Goblin Valley and Mesquite. it's great to live within driving distance of so many awesome places. you gotta love Utah!!!!!!!

ok- that took forever trying to figure out my picture junk. I'm still such an amateur, but at least I got them mixed in with the text this time...I'm learning little by little!

Now, tell us about your hometown!!!

Tagged by Angie!

I am: more than meets the eye.
I think: this question recurs at the bottom of this post?

I know: who I am, and why I'm here.
I want: to be healthier!
I wish: I could freeze time! I love having little kids.
I hate: pointy shoes
I miss: my best friends Tara and Jodie, old friends from work that I don't see anymore, and my care-free youth.

I fear: for my children's self-esteem and social issues as they start jr. high and young women's and the awkward teenage years in general.

I feel: inadequate sometimes!
I hear: my cute Lucy and Odie playing nicely together...wonders never cease!
I smell: cheddar jalapeno bagels, and Brandon's BenGay from his "training" last night, thanks alot, B.
I crave: brownies, chocolate fudgy cakey ooey gooey stuff.

I search: for the girls hair brush daily, kids shoes at least twice a day, and sometimes for the remote.

I wonder: if I will ever get my kitchen remodeled.

I love: love love my husband and kids!

I ache: when I hear about other's heartaches, and when I think of my older kids as babies.
I care: about the fact that I can't get this sentence to type in non-bold format? why these random issues with my blogging?

I always: make my bed.
I am not: out to impress anyone.
I dance: like a white girl.
I sing: every single chance I get! There's a song for everything!

I cry: about my kids, mostly.
I don't always: know what to talk about.
I write: because I love to.

"I win: whenever Brandon and I disagree. :)
I lose: my patience too much.
I never: eat cantaloupe. It tastes horrible to me.
I listen: to Brandon's ipod at work. It has some awesome tunes on it!
I can usually be found: at home (on my computer), in my van or sitting at my desk at the IRS!

I am scared: of bad things happening to people I am close to.
I need: way more sleep than I get!
I am happy about: the approaching weekend!! Hooray!

I think: I better go pick up Abby's carpool right about now...

and one more...I tag: lets see, angie n, ginger, carrie and shaury... ;)