Oops! I forgot!

I forgot to post Five for Friday yesterday.  Oops.  I was really busy doing... nothing!  Actually I didn't realize it was Friday, until Spencer called and asked if I wanted to go on a date.  By then the only thing I was thinking about was that I had to hurry and clean the house and make sure the kids were fed.  So we could head out the door before 6. 
Such is life...always late.

1.  We went camping at Ensign Ranch last weekend, and had a blast!  Eating smores, and chillin' was exactly what we needed.  Jr.,Tricia, and family came along too.  The kids were so excited to explore and collect leaves, we didn't see them much.  We were going to spend 2 nights there, but the day we were supposed to leave I was feeling really lazy, and didn't pack.  So we decided to just spend one night instead of 2.  I really wish I wasn't a loser because 2 days would have been fun.  Oh well.

2.   Emily said the cutest things this week.  We were driving back from Yakima, and she saw the moon behind the clouds and said " Mom, look at the moon...it's hiding because no one likes it."
Yesterday, we were on the couch cuddling and she started to fall asleep.  Not so good, because it was 5p.m. and if she takes a nap later than 1p.m. she won't go to sleep until 12 in the morning.  So I nudged her and said "Emmy don't fall asleep."  With sleepy eyes she said " mommy, my eyes told me they were tired and I have to put them to sleep."  How could I say "no" after that? So CUTE!

3.   Had a weird experience on Wednesday morning.  I was running late (again) and I was in a hurry to take Kaden and Emily to school.  I told Kaden to hurry and brush his teeth and meet me in the car.  I pulled the car out of the garage and was waiting for him in the driveway.  Honked a couple of times, and was getting angry because now I was really late!  Kaden comes running out the garage door, and as soon as he is out of the way I close it.  As I'm backing out I hit the gas hard, and the car goes nowhere!  I'm like "What the heck?!" So I put it in park and then put it in drive and hit the gas for a second time. Again, the car goes nowhere.  "Crap!"  I put it in park again and then realize that I had it in DRIVE! not REVERSE, which is what I wanted in the first place.  Those two times I had it in drive, I had hit the gas hard.  What scared me was that if the car had worked I would have drove straight into the garage, ruin the door, deploy the air bags and hurt Kaden really bad, because he had his saxophone on his lap.  Someone was watching out for me for sure!

4.   Sophie got strep this week.  She was miserable!  I felt so bad for her.  She didn't eat for three days, because her throat hurt so bad. Not fun!  Took her to the Doctor and she was surprised how bad her throat was.  Got some antibiotics and she is doing much better.  Now, I'm just hoping now one else gets it.

5.   Went out to dinner with some friends last night.  Spencer and I are pretty faithful about going on a Friday night date.  We always do the same thing every week, which is go out to eat, just the 2 of us.  I love my husband and I love spending time with him, but doing the same thing every week gets boring.  So when some friends invited us to go out, we jumped at the chance.  And we are so glad we did!  We hadn't laughed so hard in a long time.  We had the best time! Thanks Jeremy, Heather, Tiffany, and Spencer!  Next time it's on us!

Five for Friday.

I saw this on one of my friends blog, and I thought "What a GREAT idea!"  Just some happening of the week, thoughts, maybe some pictures, and hopefully some insights or "ah ha" moments to share with all my fellow bloggers.

1.  I am learning that a clean house is not MORE important than taking time to play a game with my kids, or color on the floor.  Kids grow too fast and I want my kiddos to remember mom playing and hanging out with them.  Not ALWAYS cleaning the house. It seriously has taken me 15 years to learn this lesson, so I hope it's not to late.

2.  I really like my husband!  I know that's like a given, but I thoroughly like spending any time possible with him. 

3.  Kaden got really disappointed today when he was practicing his saxophone.  He was upset with himself because he wasn't playing the notes just right and he wanted to do it perfectly.  Had to explain to him that it is going to take awhile to get it just right and that he need to practice and work hard. Sadly, that is a trait he gets from me.  I do things and I expect it to be perfect the first time.  Not to self...need to work on that.

4.  Going camping tomorrow.  Excited, but not excited.  It seems like a lot of work for just a day.  I have to step back, and remember that this family time is a memory the kids (hopefully) will remember.

5.  I can actually walk this week.  So HAPPY about that!  Still not 100%, but slowly getting there.  Bending still hurts, sitting in cars, and walking down steps are not fun, but at least I'm not crawling like I was last week.  Thank goodness for Brandon!  (Chiropractor)

Well that's pretty much it in a nut shell. 

Tiny ACTS of SERVICE mean the very most!

Thank you Babe! For taking care of me when I needed you the most.

Thank you Brandon for for making chiropractic house calls to get me back to my ol' self.

Thank you Jr. and Tricia ( more Tricia, than Jr.) for coming over and cleaning my very messy house and feeding us a wonderful dinner!

Thank you Jen for watching Emily after pre-school.
Thank you Natalie for driving Sophie to school.
 
Thank you Heather for watching Emily, and coming over to trim my bushes for me! 

Thank you Marci for your willingness to take and pick up my kids from school.

I can't express the gratitude I have for each and everyone of you!  You willingness to serve has been a huge Example to me, and I only hope I can return the favor sometime.  Thanks again for the GREAT people you all are!  My Family has been blessed  by your kindness.

Blogging? ...What's that?

    I know...I know, it has been a long time since I have had the time to blog.  Thank goodness for a GREAT and WONDERFUL husband who took time to post some of the fun things that have happened to us during the summer months. 
     Time really does fly!  I think of all the marvelous and wonderful memories we have made this past summer and it just reminds me of how fast my kiddos are growing.  I realize that once that moment is gone, you can never get it back.  It has made me think that maybe, just maybe I need to stop what I'm doing and just enjoy the moment.  It seems that I get caught up in all the mundane chores of my daily life and forget what is most important to me.  And that is my FAMILY.  So this is a post for my kids.
      Brianna.(Beenana)
         You truly have blossomed over night!

This year you turned 12 and I can honestly say I swear you were just a baby a couple years ago.  Now your talking about boys, wearing make-up, wanting a pair of high heels, into the latest fashion, starting Young Womens, babysitting, hanging out with your friends, talking on your cell phone into the wee hours of the morning, and asking questions I'm not yet prepared for.  You truly have become a BEAUTIFUL young lady.  I am so PROUD of the choices you are making and your setting a WONDERFUL example for your brother and sisters.  I could do with out all the DRAMA, and the COMPLAINING, but that is what makes you, YOU!  I know I'm going to look back on this time in your life and SMILE.  Because, this is the BEGINNING for you.  You're going to look back on you life and remember ALL your firsts.  Your first CRUSH ( Ethan ), your first kiss (which by the way, your WAY TO YOUNG, wait 5 years or so), your first dance, your first date, the first time you drive a car (heaven help the other poor souls on the road) the first day of college,etc...
I LOVE you Brianna!  For the person you are and the person you are becoming.  Stay TRUE to yourself and close to the Gospel.  I'm now going to quote Grandpa Hernandez (something I promised myself I would never do)  Remember WHO you are and WHERE you came from.  He used to say that to me every time I went out somewhere. And now it will be something you will hear from me every time you go somewhere.

Kaden (Buddy).
    To my ONLY son.  You too have grown up to fast!

You are my BIGGEST helper.   You are the GO GETTER for the whole family.  And NEVER once do you complain.  You make me so HAPPY!   I love how you tell me, you never want to leave me when you get older.  When I asked you what your were going to do when you go on your mission.  Your reply was " Mom, I want to go on my mission, but I just DON'T want to MISS you too much!"  I then asked what you were going to do when you go to college and then find a wife.  You looked right at me and said " Mom, I'm not going far for college and didn't you know when I get married, we are all going to live with you?" ( Maybe you should wait and ask your wife where she would like to live.  I can guarantee, she will not say with her In-laws. )  You amaze me with your creativity, and your mad Lego skills. I have seen you build the most amazing cars, airplanes, towers, houses, and space ships. I remember one night I was already in bed and I heard this loud noise coming from your bedroom.  I went to investigate, and I found you in the middle of your room with thousands, and thousands of Lego's all around you. My first reaction was to get mad and ask you what were you thinking playing with Lego's at 12:30 in the morning.  But the look of pure excitement that came from your eyes, prompted me to ask you what you were building, instead.  You couldn't wait to show me everything you had built.  I took a picture of you surrounded by all those tiny Lego's(knowing I would have to pick them up in the morning), and shook my head as I walked back to my room.  I LOVE you Buddy!

To my SoSo, my Sofa loaf.  I waited 5 long years for you, and you were my wish come TRUE!

 You my child, are my lover.  I love how you love to cuddle with me.  You always ask me to save YOUR spot next to me.  You absolutely love to give hugs! That is just one of my favorite things about you.   
You are my little sponge!  You thoroughly love to learn.  You SOAK up everything and are so eager to know everything.  You are always asking questions and sometimes when I ask you something, your responses are so grown up.
 I LOVE to watch you and Emmy together.  You are so PATIENT  with her.  I can see how much you love her, no matter how mad she makes you.I am AMAZED that you taught Emmy how to ride her bike(without training wheels).  You had just learned yourself, and next thing I know your calling me outside to watch Emmy go down our drive-way on her Dora bike.  You were so proud of her and I was so proud of you!
 You are always thinking of others.  Just today, we went to McDonalds and everyone got something to eat except for Kaden. (he was at home)  Everyone was enjoying their food, and you weren't eating.  Then you said "Mom, I'm gonna wait to eat at home so I can share with Kaden."  Today, you were my example and everyday I am reminded of what a special spirit you are!
You are an unmovable mountain!  Stubborn to the core. (I think you get it from Dad's side of the family. But shh...don't tell anyone!)  But, nonetheless we love you! My little SoSo, you are my little ray of sunshine, and I LOVE you more than the stars in the sky!

To my little Emawee! My little surprise package!

I LOVE you, I LOVE you, I LOVE you!  You are the baby of the family, and you know it!  You get whatever, whenever, however you want it.  Yes, you are spoiled to the CORE!  And not just by me.  By everyone!  How could we  ever deny you anything?  One look from those big brown eyes and we turn into MUSH! 
You are so sweet! And I love how, all you want when you get older is to lose a tooth.  You talk about it almost everyday.  I personally think you just want  the tooth fairy to visit.  But according to you, losing a tooth means you will get older, turn five, and get to go to Kindergarten.  Why you would want to get older, I don't know. I want you to stay just the way you are. SWEET!
I have never seen a more smiley person in my life, until you came along.  You smile 24/7!  I love waking up to your cute BIG smile.  It makes my day everyday!  And your sense of humor is like no other.  You are constantly doing and saying the cutest things.  I wish I could walk around with a video camera to catch all of you silliness, and HAPPINESS. You ARE my favorite Emawee in the whole wide world. I love you!

I could probably go on and on, but there is truly not enough time.  Just know I love you with all my heart.
One of my all time favorite quotes says it perfectly.  "I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it."  And YOU ( my little ones) are definitely WORTH IT!
Love you more than you KNOW!
                Mom

A plethura of stories.

You'll have to forgive in advance the mish mash of stuff I'm gonna post. Just a bunch of quick hitters, some kinda fun, some not so much.

The other day, I was getting ready to go somewhere and Emily asked where I was going. I said that I was "Going Far Far Away on Judea's Plains". She immediately jumps up and says, "Oh Oh, can I go Daddy". (slight pause), then she says,"Lucky". With a J-Lo type sass. It was cute.

Kaden came to me a few days ago after I had asked him to load the dish washer. He proceeded to tell me that he did his very best, but he could not fit all of the dishes. With out uttering a word, I unleashed "the look". You know, the one where you drop your chin, rais your eye brows and stair directly into his eyes. He first sputtered a bit and tried to say he tried really hard. The look was reiterated by reversing the angle of the face and causing one eyebrow to raise above the other. He slumped down a bit and said," Um, maybe I should go down stairs and just try to rearrange it and fit them all in". Then he just quietly turned and reloaded the dish washer. Me and Susi must have laughed for 5 minutes.

Last night we hear a loud BANG and a high pitched scream (one you would expect from a leetler geril) I went upstairs to find Kaden on the floor crying and Brianna trying to convince him he was over reacting and that having the door slammed on his forehead really should not hurt. After all, he'd done the same thing to her and it didn't hurt at all. It's amazing how early kids begin to employ (or at least try) to employ the power of suggestion.

I pulled Sophies first tooth out the other day. The thing was hanging by a no more than 3 gum cells. That little girl put up a battle that would have made Rocky Balboa proud. She absolutely did not want her tooth pulled out. It took at least 20 minutes of convincing wrangling and a touch of brazilian jujitsu to finally get that kids tooth out. I was sweating profusely by the time I got the little sucker out. She is one stubborn little girl.

Me and Susi got to go to California for our 15th anniversary. It was a blast. We got to meet our friends Mark and Lisa and go eat at the Cheese Cake factory. It was great. We then spent an entire day at Disney Land and another day at Magic Mountain. We got the Platinum Flash Pass which allowed us to go to the front of the line and ride each ride twice. I had a few choice words directed my way from people who waited 2 hrs while I happily butted in front of them. On our way out, we stopped right before LAX to gas up. Not a great idea. Just FYI, those people who look like gas station attendants and pump your gas are not gas station attendants.... Very weird.

The day at magic mountain had some negative effects on Susi. Her back went out a week ago today. As it turned out, she pinched her siatic nerve and was pretty much resigned to crawling all week. The only other time I've seen her that uncomfortable was when she had Kaden. And that was only becuase her spinal block wore out.. She was in major pain. She was very lucky to have a great friend who came over and made in home Chiropractic calls for her. Our fam also took care of us by making food.

I went down to Provo a couple of weeks ago and got to play 54 holes of golf with my brothers. We also went to the BYU - UW game. It was awesome. There's nothing like going to Lavell Edwards Stadium with a sold out crowd and competetive game.

That's it for now.

SHADE SALE!

TriCities,WA: SHADE Sale & She-Market!

If you are in the Tri-Cities area you DO NOT want to miss this event!!!  There is going to be another Shade sale and bazaar…however this time its BIGGER…MUCH BIGGER. In fact Shade is going to be sending a 24-ft Uhual packed to the brim with clothes.  These are all NEW seconds and irregular Shade clothing items that our hostess Jen can sell to us all at a super cheap price!!  Some are discontinued colors and styles including camis, tanks, layer tees, long-sleeved shirts, skirts and Maternity. Prices will be $3-$15.
Important: This could be the LAST shade sale we will be having here because sadly I read that Shade will not be offering a new fall line, and they will be selling off their intire inventory, closing their stores and going for a dark period.  This sounds to me like Shade is closing down for a while so this is it, the inventory that we are getting is about the last that the company will have and there will be no more.  So you might want to stock up!

She-Market {featuring Shade clothing}

Credit Cards + cash accepted

When:

August 24-25 from 3pm -8pm

 Where:  2908 Road 61  Pasco, WA

What:  Thousands of NEW Shade clothing, sizes are girly: 4-6, 7-9 .Womens: xs, sm, med, lg, xlg, and xxlg.  There is Maternity clothes also! Items include skirts, specialty tops and regular Shade shirts. 

Vendors coming:

• Scentsy
• Jewelry
• Baked Goods
• Pampered Chef
• In Bloom Birth Support
• The Breadman’s Wife
• Mary Kay
• Tupperware
• Me..Stop in and say hello. 
• + more. If you are interested in being a vendor email Jen (vwbabe3148@hotmail.com)

Brilliant Brianna!

That's right, you heard it here first folks. Brianna is brilliant. She's my 4.0 future doctor/ lawyer/ dentist/ orthodontist. My retirement is now set.... (you have to click on the picture to see the grades...)

The Heist!

Parents beware, 4 and 5 year olds are capable of more than you think... AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY!!
So it's my Friday off and I go with Susi to pick Sophia up from Pre-school. We get home and almost as soon as we walk in the door, Sophia starts to ask me if I want to go upstairs and rest with mommy. Normally, I would think she was just wanting me to spend some quality time with Susi, but my gut (which is much larger than is should be) told me there was a bit more going on. So after she insists and practically pushes me upstairs, I relent and go up stairs. I waited about 10 minutes and did my best stealth mode descent down the stairs to find.... The little girls had been running a clandestine smuggling operation right under our noses!!












Well, you can see the picture. I found both Sophia and Emily with one each. Then I did a little more investigation only to find that they had stashed a fair number underneath the couch. I wish I knew how to photo shop the pictures of them into mug shots, it would have been entirely appropriate! You have to love those little girls. Me and Susi had fun playing bad cop - bad cop interrogating them. Aren't the crocodile tears convincing?

Director, Producer, and Camera Man.

This has been Spencer for the past month or two.

I think he has an obsession. 

I've been contemplating and intervention.

But when I watch all the wonderful memories that he is capturing of the kids and our family.  I realize I don't mind having a video camera in my face  24/7.  I don't mind when he tells every one to freeze and not move, so he can get his camera.  And, it doesn't bother me when we get to where we are going and he realizes he forgot the camera and runs home to get it.  That the first thing  he says when the kids do or say something funny is "Wait! Let me get my camera."  And, "Do it again."  All the while the kids are hum and hawing about "it's not the same," and "do we have to? " The endless complaining and video taping is worth it. Especially when, the kiddos are older and we have all these great video tapes of them doing and saying the cutest things.

Gotta love our family Director, Producer and Camera Man!

The beautiful, complicated, simple, wonderful Susi

I've been contemplating a post about Susi for a while. But there is such a range of things to write about that I would get hung up in one area. I could write an entire novel on all the funny things she's done, but that doesn't quite tell the tale. So I guess I'll just try to make a bit of a cross section of her through the years.

I still remember like yesterday dancing with her for the first time 15 years ago. Then after I danced with her twice in a row (both slow songs baby... oh yeah), I spent the rest of the night trying to chase her down in vain. I was quite convinced that she was trying to run away from me.

I had only known this girl for about a week when she started trying to win my heart via my stomach. To this day, she doesn't have an equal when it comes to cooking.

I'll never quite forget the time we went to the park in Rexburg to read scriptures. It was supposed to be a transcending moment where we bonded spiritually. Not quite wanting to cooperate, Susi uncerimoniously (accidentally of course) blew a monster booger right onto 2 Nephi. She was mortified, but I just flicked it off and laughed for a bit.

She proved very adept at holding up gumballs with her nose, very cool.

There are more funny stories about Susi than I could shake stick at, but they'll have to wait till later.

If there were no Susi:

Who would pack my bags for me when I traveled? (I know, I'm pathetic huh)

Who would put their icy cold feet on me before we go to sleep?

Who would shake there head at every one of my attempts at humor?

Who would constantly complain that I drive like a maniac? (Early years)

Who would constantly complain that I drive like an old man? (More recentl) Funny how time changes things.

Who would be the cleaning Nazi who hunts down every speck of dust with vim and vigor?

Susi get's into what I like to call "the zone" when she'd cleanging. The zone is a very unhappy place. The zone is a place that we like to help Susi get out of as soon a possible. The zone can cause serious emotional and physical damage if overexposure has occured. Just look at me, I'm a prime example. But seriously, I LOVE how wonderful of a housekeeper she is.

Who would be so worried about how they looked for me that they made sure to put on make up every day before I got home?

She has an uncanny sense of smell. Last night, we stayed at a hotel in Bellevue. It was supposed to be a non-smoking room and it smelled like an ash tray. I was able to block it out for the most part, but she was up most the night gagging because of the nasty smell.

All my friends in college loved her. We had a whole list of rules to live by. One of the rules was that Susi had to bring goodies if she wanted to come over. The other was that they all had to get permission from me if they wanted to squish her. She was called the Woogie in college, thanks Mark. So the rule was that you couldn't squish the woogie. The all loved her.

Heck, who doesn't? I am seriously the weak link in this partnership.

I'll add pictures later.

Raptor Reef

I'm really late at posting this, but better late than never.  At the beginning of last month we and the Beebe's took a trip to Idaho, and had the best time ever at Raptor Reef. 


The kids loved the slides and the wave pool.

We even snuck in some fun...

All in all it was a very FUN weekend!  The kids had a blast! And the adults didn't have a bad time either. Thanks to the Beebe's for just being COOL!  We loved spending time together as families.  Looking forward to next year!

The many masks of my hubby...

I came across these pictures the other day, and about fell off my chair laughing! 

Spencer has decided to grow his beard ( because he says you can see his double chin without it) and one night he got tired of it.  so he decided to do this...

He totally looked like a Harley riding, beer drinking, 4 pack smoking, biker.  All he needed was a tatoo of myself on his arm and my  name on his chest. 

I have always wanted to know what he would look like with just a mustache.  So he shaved th rest and this is what we got...

Ha!  He's the guy that pulls you over when your speeding!!!

Pity Party!

Just having one of those days...
  

You know...where you wake up in the morning, grudgingly trying to pull yourself out of bed when all you really want to do is pull the covers over your head and lay there wallowing in your suckiness. That is me today.

Last night, I went to a Relief Society Stake Conference thing, and met up with some of the sisters from our new ward. (nothing against the sisters in our new ward, cuz they are AMAZING, but I miss my friends from Yakima 2nd, and I feel I can be myself around them, and I don't have to watch what I say, because, I know (at least I hope) they won't judge me, if I say something totally stupid. And I hate making new friends because beleive it or not I have a hard time doing it ) As I was sitting there watching the re-enactment of the parable of the 10 Virgins to music, I had this over whelming feeling of inadequacy.  Usually I leave those kinds of things uplifted and full of the spirit, but sad to say last night was not one of them.

I felt inadequate in every way... I was having a pity party.  And it has spilled over on to today.

I feel that I'm not doing everything spiritually to grow my testimony.  I have kind of slacked off when it comes to spiritual stuff.  Saying prayers, scripture study, yada, yada, yada, etc...

And this morning as I was blog stalking some of the sisters in our new ward, I felt even crappier. 

So, as I'm sitting here crying, trying not to do it out loud ( cuz then I would have to come up with a lie for Emily as to why I'm crying.)  And thinking of all the ways I'm not smart enough,
 skinny enough,
 creative,
 spiritual,
 determined,
 pretty,
 clever,
 funny,
 musicaly inclined,
 sporty,
 geeky,
disciplined,
a chef ,
crafty,
and witty enough.  I'm sure there is a lot more that I'm not good enough at..I just can't think of any right now.   Just keeping it real. This is how I feel today.  Tomorrow will probably be different, but today sucks!  And to top it off, it's Kaden's 10th Birthday.  Usually I go all out with amazing parties, that his friends talk about for days, but today party preparations are slow to nonexistant.  I feel like a big crap hole! and I'm having my bi-monthly pity party.  No one will probably comment on this post.  So I guess I'll go eat worms!

Sophie Sophie Sophie

We were having a roundtable discussion at dinner yesterday when Brianna started talking about being four. She thought for a second and said,"I don't remember being 4". Kaden chimed in by also noting that he had no recollection of being four. Right after that, Sophie said, "I don't remember being 4 either". As you all know, Sophie is four. We all fell out of our chairs laughing.

Tonight, Brianna got after Sophie for messing with Kaden's Pokeman Cards. Two strange things about that one, Sophie being interested in Pokeman Cards and Brianna caring about anyone doing anything to Kaden's stuff in general.. but I digress.. Anyway, Brianna sent Sophie up to her room and she went wailing all the way. About 10 minutes later, she walks up beside me whilst I'm working on the computer and get's my attention (no small task while I'm on the computer). She says, "Daddy, I just wanna go be with Jesus". This definately piqued my interest and I asked why she would want to do that. She said, "I just want to be with Jesus because everyone's mean to me and wants to send me to my room". There are equal measures of cute, funny and sad all mixed in there. She was soo pathetic when she said it, I still chuckled just a little bit.

A couple of other funny Sophieisms:

It's not spaghetti, it's sgabetti (pretty normal for lil'kids)

It's not trampoline, it's jumpoline

It's not sprinklers, it's squirters (my favorite)

It's not copy, it's coffee (not sure where that one came from)

Also, her pre-school teacher told Susi the other day that she was concerned that Sophie wasn't learning her letters as well as she could. Susi asked Sophie why she hadn't learned her letters, Sophie informed Susi that she wasn't old enough to learn her letters and wanted to wait till she was older to learn them... She's such a smart little stink that she ought to be able to learn them in a day, she's just decided she doesn't want to yet.

She also loves to ride her bike and play out side as long as we'll let her.

We love our Sophie, don't know what we'd do without her.....

Fun Evening

I got home from work today and really wanted to shoot some hoops with the kids. So I make the proper preparations by blowing up the ball and then ask Kaden if he wants to go. "No thanks dad, I'm playing marbles with my friends". I very politely explained to Kaden that asking him to come was only a courtesy and that attendance was not optional. So he begrudgingly climbed into the car and we headed over to shoot some hoops. We went to a Park about a block away from where we going to build the new house where they have a couple of hoops. We shot around together for a while then a group of kids asked if they could play bump (lighting for us older folks) with us. That was pretty fun, Kaden one once and I won a couple of times.

We came home to a rattled Susi. When I left, I TOLD her I was taking Kaden. Apparently she mis-remembered the heads up and was ready to call in the cavalry to find the boy. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't convince her I had told her I was taking him... and admitted that 'OF COURSE" I was wrong.... and not told her... Ya gotta pick your battles baby.

During dinner, I noticed that Kaden was chewing with some difficulty using my keen powers of observation. (In actuallity, I was totally clueless. Susi asked why it hurt while he was chewing. A few minutes later it dawned on me he may have a tooth coming out. I can be a bit slow at times). Anyway, I talked him in to letting me yank it. It's been a while, so I must admit I was a bit nervous. Despite the butter flies, I popped the sucker out the first try. Now, Kaden could be officially classified as a chinuelo (toothless in Spanish). He has the four fronts on top and bottom. Then after the tooth pulling, he has three emptty spots between the fronts and the back molar. That should make for some interesting meat chewing till the permanents come in...

About 15 minutes before this, the girls had vanished upstairs and it was eerily quiet. A little too quiet if ya know what I mean. So we got the video camera running and quietly tiptoed up to our bedroom. We ran into them leaving the bedroom as we got there. The excitedly told Susi they wanted to show her a surprise. So she obliged by closing her eyes as they led her to the closet. She opened her eyes to a completely cleaned and organized closet. Sophie and Emily exclaimed that they had cleaned her closet for valentines day. Very cute..

Anyway, that's the report for today, the 15th of February 2010.

First Kiss Redux

As is the case in all stories, there are two sides to this one. Your about to hear about our first kiss from a wee different perspective.... (Camera fades off into the sky and slowly focus on Spencer sitting at his very spartan cubicle at Bechtel on the morn of the 3rd of Febuary, 2010). So I'm sitting there thinking about how long Susi and I have been married, almost 15 years. Then I tried to remember the first day we met, first date, first kiss and all that stuff. As I was looking at my calendar (also thinking that I'm on company time day dreaming about my first kiss, money well spent. Thanks Bechtel), I realized that the 3rd was the 15th anniversary of our first kiss. At least it was really close to the first anniversary of our first kiss... I remember when it was you see, because I had a plan for that first kiss. In case you don't know me very well, I'm a serious plotter. Not one to fly by the seat of my pants. And as such, homie had a plan laying the first kiss on his woman! The plan was (emphasis on WAS) to kiss her on Valentines day. Susi always seems to manage hosing my plans for her, finding her Christmas presents EVERY YEAR, never letting me name our kids.. but I digress.

So here I am circa 3-Feb-1995 on a date with Susi. We had a scavenger hunt around the campus of Rick's college and ended up at Susi's appartment with all her room mates to watch a movie. The evening was drawing to a close and I was ready to make my escape. Should be a pretty simple move right? "Hey Susi, I've gotta get, got church". "Been loads of fun, see ya tomorrow...k.. bye". At least that's what I had planned. So I get up to make my exit, head for the door, step out side thinking I'm gonna get a quick hug and be off. Then... I hear ... the door shut behind me ... with Susi unexpectedly being on my side.

Heart begins to race, face goes somewhat numb, knees get just a bit weak. "This is ok, I can handle this, I've got a plan!" Think, come on you fool!! Think!! Ok Ok... this is gonna work and I can still say our real first kiss was on Valentines day. Dang she's cute, just a little kiss wouldn't hurt.. NO NO, be strong, it's just one more week. OK, here it goes, I'm mov'n in. Small hug, lips on check, perfect. SCORE!!
Then she said something, but it wasn't what I thought she said... No no no, she "Your Great", because no one EVER says "That's It" when a guy tries to be romantic. That just doesn't happen.... or...maybe ....it does.
Well, at that point, I just didn't have a choice. It's not that I didn't want to, you need to appreciate how unbeleivably gorgeous she was to grasp the kind of will


power required to just kiss her on the check the first time. But she just called me out, so it was game on now. Nobody calls homie out on the first kiss.
So I laid one on her like I meant it. At that point, I really did loose all feeling in my legs.
I'm surprised I made it home. As Susi said, when I got there I poured a bowl of cereal and put the milk in the cupboard and the cereal back in the fridge...
She blew my doors off.
So yesterday, I wanted her to know that I remembered that day. I'll never forget it.

First Kiss

Aaahhh!...The first kiss. I'm sure if you ask any of your friends, they could tell you about their first kiss. Where they were at, what they were wearing, (hopefully)
who they were kissing.

I remember my first kiss. And I'm sure everyone is dying to know all the details. But, what I want to talk about is my first kiss with Spencer.

We had only known each other for 2 weeks. And I believe we had only had one real date. ( which by the way is another story) He had come over to my apartment to visit me. And I remember very clearly, when it was time for him to leave, because I followed him to the door, walked out with him and closed the door behind me. Now thinking back, I realize I was possessed with some kind of alien life form. Usually I would have said goodbye in the apartment, and watch them walk out the door. But for some unexplained reason, I decided to do something different.

I was standing on the first step of our little porch, and he was standing in front of me. We talked for a while, and then he said he had to get back home. There was this little moment of awkward silence, where neither one of us didn't know what to do. Then it happened. He kissed me....on the CHEEK! What?! Are your freakin kidding me? On the CHEEK?! He pulled back and was looking all proud of himself(probably saying to himself " I'm the Man baby... booya!")

The next thing I remember, is looking at him with this perplexed look on my face and blurting out " That's it?"

Remember, you have to believe me when I say, that my body was possessed by an alien, because I would have never said anything close to that to someone I hardly knew.

But, then it happened...again. He kissed me. Only this time it wasn't on the cheek. This is where it gets blurry. I really don't remember anything after that. Somehow I made it back into my apartment. Whether I told my roommates what happened or I went to bed. I can't remember. I guess it had the same effect on Spencer. When he got home, he made himself some cereal, put the milk in the pantry and the cereal in the fridge. And walked around in a daze. So I was told by his roommates.

Needless, to say, our first kiss was memorable. And one of my kids favorite stories.

So the reason I recounted our first kiss, is because, yesterday I heard my doorbell ring. I opened the door, and found Spencer standing there with a dozen red roses. "Happy 15 Year Anniversay of our First Kiss" is what he said to me right before he planted a juicy one on my cheek.

And I'll give you one guess of what I said.....

Without Spencer.

Without Spencer, there would be no one to give me back rubs.
There would be no one to help with fighting kids.
There would be no one to make Saturday waffles.
There would be no reason to make cookie dough.
There would be no one to help manage the chaos we call life.
There would be no reason to fall through the toilet seat.

Without Spencer, who would find creative ways to use leftovers?
Who would leave socks in rare places so I can spend my free time picking them up?
Who would support my vain addictions (scrapbooking and shopping to name a few)?
Who would remind me to say my prayers and read my scriptures?
Who would insist that I take time for myself?
Who would beat me in Scrabble?

Without Spencer, I would have full command of the remote control.
I would watch chick flicks whenever I wanted.
I would have a clean bedroom.
I would eat Way to many candy bars.

Without Spencer, I would not enjoy long road trips.
I would not need to color coordinate his clothes to make it easier for him to find things.(and to hear him say "where are my..." every time he gets ready in the morning)
I would not have someone to run to the store when I forget something.
I would not have seen Star Trek 32 times.

Without Spencer, I would not laugh every single day.
Without Spencer, I would not have so much fun planning the future.
Without Spencer, I would not have such wonderful memories.
Without Spencer, I would not enjoy today.

Without Spencer, my life would not be complete. He is the cheese to my macaroni.
The caramel to my ice cream. The cherries to my pie. The sauce to my spaghetti. The butter to my toast. The jalapeno to my salsa. The beans to my burrito. The cookies to my milk.The bun to my burger. The sugar to my tea. The pork to my chops. Ya da, Ya da, Ya da... I think you get the picture.

Just a little shout out to my Honey. Thanks for all that you do. Without you life would definitely be boring.

Grandma comes to town.

Grandma Daw came to town and stayed for a visit. We always love when Grandma Daw comes to play with us. We had a lot of fun just relaxing, going out to eat, shopping and just hanging out with each other. She always spoils us and we love her so much.



We even had time to teach Grandma how to play poker. She was a natural. Her and Kaden were kicking out butts. We had alot of fun and look forward to another visit from Grandma.