Mommy - "ME" - Time

I am one of those selfish mothers who take advantage of grandparents who live close by to watch their children while they take a mommy time out. Yes, I have been kid-less since 7:30am. When opportunity knocks, where I can have a little "ME" time, I jump all over it. I love my children more than anything. But I also love doing other things. And following are some things I did today, without my sweet little blessings.

1. Drove in a car for 5 1/2 hours solid, listening to talk radio, HAIRSPRAY, and my husband.

2. Had a passionate discussion with The Boss regarding the caliber of various California State Colleges, in which we called to survey friends and family to try and prove the other wrong. I won. Of course.

3. Walked around some clothing stores and tried on clothes for the heck of it. I wasn't rushed and I didn't buy anything.

4. Ate a delicious hamburger that literally melted in my mouth and finished it off with some light and crispy fries.

5. Caught up on my blog reading. I went through and read every new post on my friends and family list. This took a couple hours.

6. Watched an entire Lifetime Movie.

7. Worked out in a fancy, air-conditioned gym for 2 hours, with my own little TV at each machine. (I don't get that at home)

8. Took a 20-minute, scorching hot shower.

9. Sat down and read 2 chapters of my book, which I plan to continue doing as soon as I am done with this post.

I must admit, being able to do all these things has been quite relaxing for me. These are all things I enjoy doing, but don't always get the chance to. However wonderful this is, I SO MUCH miss my sweet little boys. I will continue to enjoy myself I'm sure, I will take advantage of this time to rejuvenate my "ME", but I will be ready to come home and sweep my boys up in my arms. I sure wouldn't trade them for all the ultra-relaxing days in the world.

Going-Going-Gone

Yes, I am still here. We have been busy this week. Last night we attended the temple, where our friends the Bess' were sealed as a family. It was so wonderful. I was completely filled with the spirit, especially when they brought their little girl Shyla in. I had tears in my eyes. She cried during most of the ceremony (which is typical), but it was sweet and special nonetheless. Thank you Jake and Christina for allowing us to be a part of your special day. It always reminds me of how special my own sealing was... and still is. It makes me love my husband more every time I witness someone else receiving those same blessings of being sealed. And it especially made me think of my two sweet boys, whom I love so much. We are an eternal family.

Today I sat the boys in the shopping cart together for the first time. It was the "double wide" ones at Food Max that have two children seats. They looked so cute sitting so close together. Every time I would give mama's boy something to play with... Big brother  would immediately take it away. He also kept taking his borhers pacifier and putting it in his own mouth. But Mama's Boy caught on and started stealing it BACK! We were so proud.

I also watched the debate today of Obama and McCain from last night. It was predictable. I don't think one said anything I hadn't heard before. Their lines were the same lines they have been using in their speeches for the last several months. I don't think I really learned anything new about either one. I don't necessarily blame them. I have been following the campaigns for months now. I think I pretty much have my vote set in stone. Unless he goes out and does something ridiculously STUPID. I guess the debates are more for those who are still undecided or maybe haven't been following the news/campaigns. I'm not sure. What did you think?

I will also be taking a little trip. So wish me some good, much-needed relaxation. I am going to sit with a book and read read read read read. Tah-Tah!

Has anyone seen my spider?

I seem to have lost my spider. If you know me well, you know I am DEATHLY afraid of spiders. Yes I know most don't hurt you, yes I know they are all around me, yes I know you will eat about 7 in your lifetime. But I am still afraid of them, and frankly I just don't like them one bit. I can't kill them, because I think they will jump on my hand/shoe, run up/down my body, into my ears, mouth, or nose, get into my brain, and kill me. You think I am exaggerating... I'M NOT!!

The other day a dear friend of mine came by (Anne). I won't go into details, but before she left she said, "oh, by the way, you have a HUGE spider above your walk way, it's pretty creepy." I walked them outside to see this "creepy" spider. Folks, let me tell you something, this was no ordinary "creepy" spider. He was big, black and hairy. He looked into my eyes and said, "I want to jump on your head, crawl into your brain, and suck the life out of you!" I couldn't hardly move. (I still don't know how you could have walked under him Anne). Anne asked me if I was going to kill it. I said, "no way, I'm waiting for The Boss to get home... he can kill it." Of course, by the time The Boss got home, that big, ugly, hairy, eight-legged, creepy killer had slid away in a hiding place.

I look out my front door at least once every couple hours during the day to see if he has returned. I know he is out there, creepily crawling around outside, or dare I say, INSIDE, my house. HE MUST BE FOUND and HE MUST BE KILLED!! I tried to find some pictures of him online so you will recognize him if you see him. (This was very difficult for me. I can't even stand to look at pictures, so I didn't look for very long.) I think he is a baby tarantula... seriously. They can be found in fields, or around homes. (I live by a field and in a home). He was black and hairy, not a black widow... much bigger than that. He did look similar to the jumping spider. But the jumping spiders looked a little small. I'm telling you, this sucker was HUGE! He is a cross between these two pictures. So, if you happen to see my dark, hairy, friend lurking around, please let me know, so I can send someone to KILL him IMMEDIATELY!

RIGHT-WING-CONSERVATIVE-PALIN-LOVERS

Okay all, I think we need to take a pause and really think about this Saturday Night Live skit on Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton. I thought it was BRILLIANT!!! It was hilarious, and if you didn't laugh, there is seriously something chemically wrong with you. In case you've been hiding in a closet in some remote third-world country and haven't seen it, I have attached it for you so you can view it for yourself (don't take my word for it). I mean come on people... if we can't laugh at a little satire anymore... we're in trouble. Whether you love or hate Palin or Clinton, this was too funny to pass off as sexist. Even if it is from the ALL-LOVING-OBAMA-IS-GOD-NBC network. Give credit where credit is due. Tina did an AMAZING impression of Palin. And Amy's Hillary was great too. So... lets calm down, RIGHT-WING-CONSERVATIVE-PALIN-LOVERS, this will go down as one of the best skits EVER.

Aaron hates when Tina Fey uses SNL as her personal agenda to rip on anyone conservative. He tried not to laugh... but he couldn't resist.

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/palin-hillary-open/656281/

Go Cougars!!!

A big win for the BYU COUGARS!!! It was Mama's Boy's first BYU football game (on TV). The whole family dressed up BYU gearified... except for me because I had somewhere to go afterward and all I have are t-shirts, but I usually gear-up myself. Although this was a close game (only by a point), it was full of action. We had a lot of Boos, hi-fives, cheers, yelling at the refs, and crossed fingers (good block boys!) at our house. We love our BYU football and as usual, The boss is desperately trying to figure out how he can get back to Provo for a game. We'll see... But the Lehi family room will have to do for now. Go Cougs!!!

I thought this was fun:

Big brother a year ago for the same game

Mama's Boy

Big brother

Mama's Boy

So... do you think they look alike? They are exactly the same age when the pictures were taken and are obviously wearing the same exact thing. I am curious to know what you think.

Camping, shmamping - no big deal

That's right folks. Aaron and I took AJ & Mikko on their first camping trip. Everyone thought we were crazy- putting two pack-n-plays in our tent, but it was no big deal. Three and a half days of tents, bugs, dirt, and camp fire smoke. I have to say it was such A BLAST!! I had extremely LOW expectations for this trip. We went to Turlock Lake, only about an hour away, just in case it turned out disastrous. But there was no need to take off early, in fact, it went by SO FAST! We could hardly believe it was time to go. I could go on and on with all the details, so I am going to give you the 10 best things about it and the 10 worst things about it.

The Worst
10. The first day we were there, it was 105 degrees outside. What were we thinking?

9. Community showers. I guess its nice they even had them, but come on... they are gross and no one really LIKES having to use them.

8. AJ split his lip open 3 times, falling in the rocks. He also skinned up his knees and hands pretty good.

7. Heating bottles for Mikko. So annoying. We had to fire up the stove every time he needed to eat.

6. Dropping pacifiers in the dirt. This was CONSTANT! I felt like I was washing pacifiers all day.

5. No soap or towels to wash hands in bathroom. Yuck!

4. Mikko constantly wanted to be held. We couldn't let him cry because it echoed through the whole campsite. So now that we are home... he thinks he needs to be held 24/7. HELP!!

3. This is gross. Really. We were giving AJ a nap in the tent and because it was so hot, we just put him down in his diaper. Well, we heard him playing/crying for a while so we went to check on him and found him naked as a jay bird. He had torn his diaper off and thrown it out of his pack-n-play. To make it worse, he pooped in his diaper. There was crap everywhere. Luckily it wasn't "messy" crap, they were more like little pebbles. But it was still disgusting. Heat and crap, just don't mix. Especially in a tent.

2. Mikko had a 100% true blue melt down the second night. His voice literally echoed through the entire camp... when people were trying to sleep. Aaron had to put him in the car and drive around with him until he fell asleep. A first for us. Luckily it didn't happen again.

1. BUGS!!! I have about 12 bites on one foot alone. Aaron too. Luckily the boys didn't have any... how did that happen? I'm glad it was me and not them, but still... they itch!!!!

The Best

10. The last 2 days of camping were 70-80 degree weather. It was PERFECT and BEAUTIFUL.

9. The campsite was nice and shaded. There were trees everywhere. It made for really nice scenery.

8. A stream right by our campsite. This was actually really nice. The water was cool and refreshing. It was very shallow, in fact Aaron and the cousins walked all the way across it. AJ walked out to the middle of it and loved splashing around in it. He also kept trying to bend down and drink the water. It was really fun. A lot of other campers would take their chairs out to the middle of it and get some sun, while feeling the cold water on their feet. It was a nice treat to have close by. We enjoyed it.

7. No dress code. As you will see in these pictures, I gave no thought at all to how me or my children matched or looked. I kept my hair in braids or a pony tail the whole time (no blow dryer or curling iron) and no makeup. However, we did make sure everyone got a good shower/bath before bed. But it was refreshing not to worry about "looking good". And I let my boys get as dirty as they wanted!

6. Our tent. My parents let us use their two room tent. It was really nice, we had plenty of room. We had our queen blow up mattress and a pack-n-play in one room and AJ's pack-n-play with the walker and bouncy chair in the other room. We kind of used that one as a play room too. It worked out really well. Thanks mom and dad!

5. Wide open space. AJ was in heaven! He ran ran ran ran ran. He could have walked around all day long. There were practically no limits on WHERE he could go. He was always ready to be on the move.

4. The food, the food, the food. Yummy breakfasts and dinners and lots of treats!!! AJ tried bacon for the first time (he loved it of course) and drank capri suns all day (I know, that's so bad). We had extravagant breakfasts with eggs, hash browns, bacon, sausage, toast, pancakes, french toast and fruit. For dinners we had tacos, roast with potatoes and carrots, spaghetti with corn on the cob, garlic bread and vegetables, and snacks and treats galore. I gained a pound over the 4 day trip. Aaron, of course gained nothing. Thanks mostly to Dad. You are the best camping cook! Grandma Donna also. Mom... you helped too, thanks!

3. The Lake. Saturday we went to the beach. AJ loved to play in the sand. The water was nice and cool. Mikko did well in the shade. He didn't like the cold water.

2. Spending time with Grandmas, Grandpa, and cousins. This was so much fun. Its nice to spend time with family without having to eat out, have the TV on, go to a theme park, or some other extravagant thing. I felt cool, calm, and relaxed. AJ almost ALWAYS had a grandma with him. And he loved following around his older cousins. Thanks everyone for all your help with the boys!

1. Exploring new things with the boys. There were so many firsts on this trip. It truly is something wonderful when a parent gets to see their child experience something fun for the first time. I am grateful that Aaron had the time off to spend with just us and that as a family we could grow and experience new things together.

These 10 best things 100% outweigh the 10 worst things. I can't say enough about it. So all in all it was a success! Totally doable- no big deal.

AJ pushing Mikko

A Birthday Wish

Happy Birthday Lacie!!

Today, September 2, is my little sister's 19th B-day. She is no longer here with us, as she died in a car accident 11 years ago. But we love her and miss her very much. I think of her often especially lately, now that I have kids. I see how close my even younger sister Shaelie is to AJ and Mikko and I wish they could be as close to their Aunt Lacie. I like to think she watches over them and I hope they can know her by the pictures I keep up in the house and the memories I have to tell. So, Happy B-day little sis. We wish you were here, we love you, and we can't wait to see you again.

Thank you to Jeni for the pic. Our scanner is not set up yet and I had no pics of Lacie on the computer. So I stole this one from Jeni's blog. Which was a tear-jerker for me. Luv you Jeni!