So lazy!!!

I don't know why, but when I start getting really busy, I have the strongest urge to just be lazy and not do any of it. Like posting my Christmas pics that we had taken a month ago. Here they are, better late, than never right?

Already!?

I cannot believe it is already half way through December. I feel like just yesterday we had Halloween and Thanksgiving and it is only 10 days to Christmas. I have been consumed with planning our Ward Christmas Musical Program. After a bit of a mix up, everything is all planned and assigned. We had to find some pianists on the fly, but the Lord is supposed to make up the difference right? Let's hope so... My kids are so excited for all of their cousins to start arriving for the family reunion. They ask me everyday if it is time yet, or if anyone is coming TODAY!! They have their Christmas recitals on Wednesday and Suzi is coming up to see them dance. We are having a little Christmas party at the end of each of their classes. The girls and a friend of mine are all going to help decorate the sugar cookies tomorrow afternoon. I still have so much to do and feel like time has definetly slipped away from me this year. We are so excited though to be busy with fun stuff.

Silver Bells...

Wow! It feels like forever since I last blogged. Can you believe that it is December already? I love it! We already have our decorations up and I can hardly wait for my birthday and Christmas. We just split our ward and now have a new building and ward we are attending. I really am enjoying it thus far. I was nervous at first, but I think it will be good. I got our Christmas photos back and Michelle did a great job again this year! I will post some soon. We are looking forward to having the Nickerls here in a couple of weeks and having the big Thomason Family Reunion. It's going to be crazy around here. Merry December!!!

TWILIGHT!!!

My cute T-Shirt that Brady got for me to wear to see the movie. The front has an apple and says, "Bite Me" and the back says, " OFFICIAL, I love Edward Cullen fan club member". I thought it was a super cute gesture!

Us two Twilighters, after the movie. Aren't we cute?

Friday afternoon we went and saw the movie for the first time...yes, the first time. Saturday, we went back and saw it again and I liked it better the second time around when I wasn't watching everything with a super critical eye. I am hoping that it will make enough money to do the next two movies.....Fingers crossed.

What was lost, now is found

The incriminating picture taken by the camera theif.

Mud wrestling, I had a picture of their little naked butts, but I figured I should not put that out there for everyone to see. It was super cute though!

The girls watching Dancing with the Stars. Notice our legs...

The Sugar Plum Fairy from the Nutcracker Tea that Cat and I went to.

Catherine with Clara from the Nutcracker.

My beautiful Catherine Grace at the Wright House where we went to the Nutcracker Tea, put on by the 4 studios that make up Jeanne's School of Dance, which is where Cat attends tap and ballet.

Sarah swimming in a bowl in the front yard. We havent' put in a pool yet, so she is having to make due.

I am so grateful that I found our camera! Sarah had found it on the counter and decided to take some pictures of Greta. She hid it under her booster at that point and I finally found it today after going through the garbage and tearing apart the whole house and offering up countless prayers. I am so glad that I have it in my custody again!

NOOO!!!!

I LOST MY CAMERA!!!!!! I have so many cute pics to post too...say prayers for it's quick retrieval.

Thanksgiving...Help!!!!!!

I am hosting Thanksgiving this year and I am nervous. The turkey, I can so do, but it is the stuffing that is killing me. We all know my personality and that I am a tad obssessive and have a little issue with perfection and I need to know how to make stuffing from scratch. I personally do NOT like stuffing, it is soggy and gross, but my sister-in-law would like some and I am here to please. Please help me by sending me all of your stuffing secrets! I am totally lame and am buying a pumpkin pie from Costco along with my traditional pumpkin cheesecake that I cannot live without! It is possibly the most delicious thing that I have ever tasted in my whole life, besides a good cheeseburger, but I digress. If you have ever made stuffing or if your Mom has a great recipe, please send it to me pronto! Thanks!

Hate It!!!!

I hate Earnhardt Dodge with a passion that I cannot fully describe in words! The only noise I can make is not discernible in letters and is probably not appropriate as are the words that I could describe. After waiting an 1 1/2 hours, I finally ended up paying to rent a car, which I won't expand upon, then after 5 hours of waiting I called to see when my car would be done and he told me to head on over, it was just done. I got there and was told they had fixed the recall parts, but not my stupid seat belt that I took it in for in the first place!!! They have to order the part, so I have to GO BACK!!!! AGGGHHH!!!! My deadly windshield wiper, was top priority and took forever to fix, who knows the havoc that it could have wreaked as I drove recklessly through the streets of Queen Creek! It could have flown off, streaking through the air and slicing into someone else's vehicle; or possibly caught fire incinerating my entire van in the blink of an eye. Not to mention that it might have turned on full speed and wiped my windshield into oblivion. The possibilities are really endless! I tried to be nice and talk to a manger about the crappy customer service that I had received, but was told it was my fault and that it wasn't changing any time soon. To make it so much better, I am stomping around, throwing my car seats down and getting into my van, when the alarm goes off in front of everyone. I must have looked really bad, because a man came out and asked if I would like some help....the words that flashed through my mind would have singed his pants off! They might have tried that line a little earlier. I just filed a complaint with Dodge and that is helping me feel a little bit better, but not much! It totally makes me envision my alter ego going down there and tagging their buildings or burning something down, but my mature, humble side is trying to talk my alter ego out of it. I will let you know who wins!

Love it!

The first of my two loves is a sarcastic, facetious love. I just love it when I have to take my car in for maintenance and it takes years! My 3rd row seat belt wasn't retracting, so I called and made an appointment that shouldn't take more than an hour. Now I am waiting after having to rent a car because it is a detailed process that I cannot understand because I am a female that involves taking the whole back panel off of my van. Stupid! The second thing is really a love of mine. I absolutely love when the conference issue of the Ensign comes out and I get to re-read all of the talks! It is so nice to be able to focus and read when my kids are asleep. It makes me feel so peaceful and calm about everything going on in the world. It makes me feel like I CAN overcome my trials and be happy. I am so excited that we have conference twice a year, so that I can recharge! I love it!

Grrrrr!!!!!

So yesterday I decided that I was going to change my background to have a festive Thanksgiving background. Well, needless to say, it did not go as planned and I managed to completely erase all of my music, links to blogs and my slide show. I was so frusterated I might have thought choice words in my mind. I have gotten a lot better at not letting them slip out when I am really mad, but I will admit I sometimes still think them, which I am sure is just as bad. Anyway, so I have spent the last hour figuring this all out. I had to randomly put addresses into blogger to try to find all of you. It was not easy and I am never going to try to change anything ever again, so get used to seeing this background and it is the only one you are ever going to see. Now, everything is back to normal, I only had one contact that I couldn't find and have no way of getting back. I can cut my losses on that one, I have everyone I really want.

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The Adventures of Cat and Sarah

Our beautiful pumpkins that we got for free in Greenbluff. We used markers this time.

Supergirl and Batgirl with there pumpkin buckets.

Batgirl Catherine

The cutest Supergirl I've ever seen!

Playing with chalk and making hopscotch boards. I will try to post a video, it was hysterical!

Grampie eating olives off of Sarah's fingers.

Cat at the Chewelah city park playground.

Sarah with her hat over her eyes at the playground.

Sarah chasing the chickens at Walter Farms in Greenbluff, Wa. There was the best little farm with tons of stuff for the kids to do. Sarah managed to sit and stand in chicken poop which I didn't discover until I picked her up and got it all over me...yuck!

Grampie makes the best horsie in the world! And rides are free.

Uncle Joel with the girls and their pumpkins that he helped them carve. He worked so hard to get Sarah to like him, but she just flirted and acted coy ( she's only 2, what will happen when she is 16?)

This horse at Schnepf Farms thought that it was a rodeo pony! Before we had even started walking it bucked and went on his two back legs. Sarah was sooooo scared and wanted off, but she made it through the ride! The second time he tried to buck her off she thought it was much more funny! I did not....stinkin pony!

Catherine Grace on her very calm, white, beautiufl pony. She was so excited to finally ride a horse, it was her dream come true!

The girls at Schnepf Farms.

This was the funniest night. I made wings for Brady and the girls; Brady and Sarah finished and Cat was still going strong. I got tired of getting up to get her more so Brady put the pan in front of her and she went to town. She looks so gross in this picture, but it was so funny to see her all messy and eating like a little T-Rex.

This is the ball castle that Brady bought for the girls before we left for Wa. They jumped and jumped and wanted it on all the time. It stayed up in our living room for a while before I finally had Daddy put it away. They think they have the best Daddy ever and I have to agree.

We ended up having to put little hook locks on the pantry because when I wasn't watching Sarah would climb to the top and eat all of the gum that we have in there. She is such a little monkey! She got put in time out, got a couple spanks, and she still would climb up and eat a whole package of gum. Grrrr!

On the Road Again

We are exhausted from our trip! We will be heading home today and I will post pics soon. My kids are so excited to go on the airplane again. Washington has been good to us, but we are ready to be Az babies again. When I asked Sarah if she was ready to go home, she asked me if we were going to go to Grammy and Grampie's house first for dinner. I told her no and she got really upset with me. I told her we were going on the airplane and she told me she would stay with Auntie Deborah. I thought about it for a minute, but then decided that I would miss her and should probably take her home. What would Brady say if I came home without her! Anyway, we have to get going, so more to come later!

Trial by Faith

I can't remember the exact scripture, but we are constantly being told that when we have our trials it is to make us stronger. I believe this to be true, but sometimes it is really hard to remember. When we are in the midst of a trial, the last thing we tend to remember is that it is for our good. It is so easy to feel overwhelmed and afraid. This is where faith is supposed to come in. My biggest problem is that at moments like this, I have a hard time overcoming the natural tendencies to feel like I can fix it all myself or solve the problem. This time I know that I can't fix the problem and it is driving me absolutely crazy! Please say prayers for my family that we can be given the strength that we need to make it through this time of trial.

Firsts, Lasts and Other Horrendous Moments

Well, first things first, Sarah is officially potty-trained. FINALLY!!! She went a whole week without wearing diapers, so on Saturday, we took her to pick out panties and a treat. Out of all the toys in the toy isle, she picked stickers; not just any stickers though, a huge box of teeny, tiny stickers that are now everywhere. I had them all over the house including in my bed and bathroom, in the kitchen, on most of the surfaces and doors, which landed her in a whole heap of trouble and even one stray sticker on her little pink bum. However, Brady is thrilled to have no diapers. I am not! It is so obnoxious to have a full cart and hear, " Mommy, I have to go potty!" Or be miles from anywhere and have to figure it out. Two year olds have no bladder control so you can't just ask them to hold it either. Sarah also took the cake this week for pushing Mommy to the bitter ends of her patience. She decided she had a special project that required special scissors, so she went upstairs and found the hair scissors and that's right.....CUT HER HAIR!!! I have plenty of nieces and nephews even , who have cut their hair and it always grew back, but I was so mad! Luckily, she actually did a really good job and only cut herself some additional bangs, for which, I am so grateful. The worst though happened today. We had some errands to run, one of which involved a bank in Walmart. The girls were so good, I took them to look at the toys. On our way back out the girls admired some very garish key chains. I told them both no and we moved on. Well Cat did not move on. She stuck one in her pocket. I went to another bank, a store and got almost home before it was made manifest to me. The girls had been arguing about "keys" and I could not figure out what they were talking about until Sarah stole the key chain from Cat, which brought about World War 3 and had me turning around trying to stop it. I saw the stupid thing and was so mortified I could hardly stand it. I turned into a parking lot and proceeded to get the whole story. She wanted it, I said "no", she decided that her want was more than her desire to do the right thing and it ended up in her pocket in our van...that's the short version. I didn't yell, I was very restrained. We turned around and went all the way back. When I told the two ladies at the register we had something that didn't belong to us and demanded she apologize they look at me like I had beaten her and were so rude to me. I return their stupid, ugly," I Love Boys" key chain and they get mad at me. I didn't want it either! They told her it was okay, and that is when I grabbed my kids and stomped out like Momzilla. Grrrrr!!!!! Stinkin Walmart! The last time I go there for a long time! On a bright note, we made Halloween decorations last week for school and I finally broke down and got my kids scissors (and look where it got me). We bought little kits to make yarn pom-pom cats, and chinese lantern that we decorated to look like a pumpkin, ghost and witch. We cut out pumpkins from construction paper and made a chain to count down the "sleeps" as Cat calls them until we go to Grammie and Grampy's house. We also got out the decorations and put them up. No new news on my mysterious illness. The cough is mostly gone, but the upheaval continues. Frustrating! I am very glad to be even a little better. We are happy to have it finally below 100 and staying there. The nights are cool enough for us to go to the playground now and the girls love it! I love it when Brady takes them and I have a couple minutes to clean in peace. I am so excited because right before we leave for Washington, the elementary school by our house is having a book fair! I love the book fair. Oh, I also got to order from the Scholastic book thing that we all had in elementary school. I babysit in the mornings for a teacher and she is slipping me the good stuff. We love books and it is so much cheaper, which enables me to buy more books! Hooray! I am also very excited because soon I will have a garden and a painted living room. Our stake has broken down the church's provident living ideas into monthly themes for our ward. They feel it will better help us heed the counsel of the prophets and make it accessible and easier to manage instead of feeling overwhelmed. We have already done water storage and gardens and this month is focused on getting your 3 month supply in order, which luckily I already had done, so it is giving us more time to get our garden built and planted, plus we have to do the drip system at the same time that we do sprinklers, so we have to wait until we are ready to do them. I am so grateful for all the blessings that we have. It is so nice to have a job that enables us to not stress. Granted, my husband works 6 days a week, but he is a good husband and works so hard to give us the things we want like gardens, sprinklers, paint and a very fun bouncy castle with a ball pit that he found on slick deals for cheap. I am so blessed and happy. So all my grumbling aside, I really do appreciate and see all that I have. I am finally caught up for a while, so until next time, hope you are all well!

Conference

General Conference is one of my favorite parts of fall. I so enjoy getting a chance to be edified by the words of the Apostles and the Prophet! I really was surprised to find so many different talks this conference. My favorite that I heard, was Sister Dalton's talk this morning about virtue. I also enjoyed both of President Monson's talks. He has always been my favorite speaker. I love the easy spirit that comes each conference and how much better I feel after each one. I look forward to April when we will have another chance to hear the words the Lord would have us hear.

Is there a Doctor in the house?

We have been busy, busy! We had a full house this weekend and spent Saturday at the zoo which was so much fun! I am still battling the sickness that I don't have. I am going into the doctor on Thursday for a second opinion and some allergy testing. Hopefully, they will tell me that I have something, anything, so that I can get rid of it. I feel like I need to call Dr. House and have his team diagnose my mystery disease. We are very sad to say goodbye to Anna, Caleb and Emma tonight. They are finally headed back to Texas after a very long road to recovery for Anna. Her scans came back looking much better and so she will be taking her family and going home. We are happy they get to go home, but sad that we won't have them at our disposal. The girls have loved playing with Emma and Caleb is so good with Sarah. Life is starting to have a schedule, but I still am having a hard time feeling like I can get my life on schedule for me personally. Once the stinking painting gets done and I can hang stuff up, I think I will feel like it is home. Everything is still so disjointed and disorganized that it really bugs me. We are so excited to be going home for Halloween. My kids keep asking me if it is today that we get to go on the airplane. Once October rolls around we will get out the decorations and get their costumes. Cat is going to be Batgirl and Sarah is going to be Supergirl. They are very into superheros. They love to watch the old Batman animated series that we have on DVD. The girl ones are their favorites. I have a pampered chef party I am hosting on Thursday, everyone is invited. I love parties!

One Small Step for Berta-kind

We finally have finished painting the upstairs!!! Hooray!!!! The whole mezzanine level is now the most beautiful chocolate milk color. Now we just have to finish the whole downstairs. I am so excited I could just kiss someone!

Today is also Ward Conference. The octet that I am heading up is singing today and I am nervous. I am still hacking up a lung and my voice sounds gravely. I have been drinking lemon water to clear the nasty stuff out, but that contributes to my gravel sound. I hope that it goes well today. Next week the choir is singing a Sally Deford song and I am a bit nervous about it. I am hoping that the next two choir practices will prove fruitful. I picked the song because of the message and the beautiful tune, but some of them are having a rough time. I don't want them discouraged. Say some prayers!

Tara's Questionaire

Welcome to the 2008 edition of getting to know you !! Change all the answers so they apply to you & then send this to to your friends, including the person who sent it to you. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little things about your friends that you might not have known!!


1. What time did you get up this morning? 6:15, better than 5:30!
2. Diamonds or pearls? diamonds
3. What was the last film you saw @ the cinema? Kung Fu Panda
4. What do you usually have for breakfast? I don't ever get breakfast
5. What is your favorite TV show?? I love House and SVU, I am also watching Burn Notice and Project Runway
6. What is your middle name? Marie
7. What foods do you dislike? seafood and other sea bugs
8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? I don't do CD's, but I really love the song"Mercy" by Duffy
9.What kind of car do you drive? Depending on the day, it's a Dodge Grand Caravan or an Audi A3
10. Favorite Sandwich ? A Neighbor's bakery Turkey and bacon ( Manda knows)
11. What characteristic do you despise? lying or any manner of deceit
12. Favorite item of clothing? I love a good pair of jeans, which is pretty much what I wear everyday year round.
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation: Where would you go ? Europe or Japan
14. Favorite brand of clothing? Gap or Gymboree for my kids
15. What was the last thing you bought? I don't usually buy things for myself, so I can't remember
16. What was your most recent memorable day? Getting to spend Labor day weekend with Brady and the kids.
17. Favorite sports to watch? I don't do sports, but I did watch the US Open
18. Furthest place you are sending this? Finland
19. Who do you least expect to send this back to you? Tara, she already did it on her blog
20. Person you expect to send it back first? ????
21. Your birthday? 12*23*1980
22. Are you a morning or evening person? I do better work at night, but I have had to slowly reverse my schedule since I got married and now I just am crappy either time.
23 What is your shoe size? 6.5
24. Pets? Rudy, our tabby and Greta, our calico
25. What did you want to be when you were little? In 1st grade I wanted to be a nun, but it has changed so much over the years, the one that has stuck is a children's theatre teacher
26. Any new and exciting news you would like to share with everyone? Not so much
27. How do you feel today? coughy
28. What is your favorite candy? I don't usually do candy unless I am with Tara, but I have always loved Reece's Peanut Butter Cups
29. What is your favorite flower? Lavender, I know it's an herb, but it counts!
30. What is the day on the calendar you're looking forward to? I really like Fridays and Saturday's, we actually get to see Brady on those days
31. What is your full name? Roberta Marie Frownfelter Thomason
32. What are you listening to right now? Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis
33. What was the last thing you ate? Does Iced Tea count?
34. Do you wish on stars? Not any more
35. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? PURPLE!!!!!! Everyone knows that.
36. How is the weather right now? Hot Tamales
37. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Brady
38. favorite soft drink ? Whole Foods 365* Caffeine free cola
39. favorite Restaurant? My newest favorite is El Ricos
40. Hair Color? Dark Brown
41. What was your favorite toy as a child? Dollies or Barbies
42. Summer or Winter? Winter, hot chocolate, snow flakes, my birthday and Christmas
43. Hugs or kisses? Kisses
44. Chocolate or Vanilla? Vanilla ice cream, chocolate everything else.
45. Coffee or Tea? Celestial Seasonings Herbal Vanilla Hazelnut Dessert Tea
46. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? yes
47. When was the last time you cried? I pretty much cry over something everyday, I am a big baby
48. What is under your bed?lids for the plastic containers and books that I don't have shelves for yet
49. Salty or Sweet? Salty
50. How many keys on your key ring? 5
51. How many years @ your current job? Married for 5.75 and a Mom for 4.5
52. favorite day of the week? Friday
53. How many towns have you lived in? 8, Chewelah, Spokane Valley, Cheney, Green Acres(yes, it is a real place), Kenmore, Mesa, Gilbert, and Queen Creek
54. Do you make friends easily? I think so
55. How many people will you send this to? couple dozen
56. How many will respond!! Who knows?

REGISTER TO VOTE!!!

If you haven't already registered to vote I encourage you to do so. You can go online and do it and it takes about 5 minutes. I had to register today since we moved and I hadn't done it yet. I am looking forward to seeing what happen this election. I hope that America can get it right and do what is going to be best for everyone. I also look forward to watching the debates. We shall see. Vote Yes on Prop 102, marriage is between one man and one woman.

Lead Kindly Light

I know that we all love and appreciate our bishoprics, but there are times when they might head the promptings of the spirit a little quicker. I got a call on Wednesday night asking me to organize an octet, singing Lead Kindly Light, for Ward Conference next Sunday. I couldn't find the music online anywhere and I couldn't order it because it wouldn't get here in time for us all to practice together. I searched high and low, I called cross-country, but to no avail. I finally called Deseret Book and was told that a different store in the valley had it and to go there. Upon arrival, I was told that yes, at some point it had been in the store, but it hadn't been in the computer since last November and to try Milano's. Luckily, Milano's had a great version and I snatched them all up. I did have to make a few illegal copies, to have enough, but nobody has to know and they will soon be shredded bits of nothingness, ( I take copyright laws very, okay almost, seriously...look what happened to Stephenie Meyer). Needless to say, I have called upon two members of the Bishopric to perform in the special musical number...see if they ever call me again! Other than that, I am still trying to recuperate from my mysterious sickness. I still hack up a lung when I laugh and could sing bass with no trouble! I am feeling better though, thank you. The painting continues. I managed to finagle Brady into helping my paint the mezzanine area of our house. We got half done and I remembered why I do the painting myself. My husband is the love of my life, selfless, honorable, hard working, tireless, smart, funny, adorable, admirable, but he is the slowest painter I have ever met. I thought I was slow owning to the fact that I have to go back and fix every little imperfection, but I was dead wrong. He also wanted so much to do it exactly how I wanted, that he asked me how to do everything. I am so grateful for his help that I am going to ask him to help me finish the upstairs. The work is slow, but worth it! I am also excited that soon I will get to go and get my curtain fabric and then I can sew all of the panels for the great room curtains. It will be quite the undertaking, but I think I am up to the challenge.

Time After Time

The New Do

The Sad, Pitiful, Old Do

We have been busy, busy, busy as I am sure most families are right now. The beginning of the school year always puts me in a frenzy trying to get everything done that I have put off due to summer's lazy days. Brady has been installing fans and wireless network cables and caulking and digging and doing all sorts of man stuff this weekend and I have been trying to clean our messy house. I have been sick as a dog this last week and we all know what happens when Mom is sick. The girls also made quite the mess playing with all of the packing supplies that were lying around. They made a huge box fort and styrofoam chairs and tables. Soon, soon, I will have everything put away. I went to LA this past weekend to see my friend, Kelly, in "Ragtime" and then my friend, Ari, is coming to visit on Monday. I haven't seen him since he was a foreign exchange student in high school. I won't mention how many years that has been...Things in Az are still hot! We get thunder and lightening every night out where we live and I have to say I am actually starting to get sick of it (sorry Mom). I hope to have curtains up and made soon as well. There just aren't enough hours in the day to accomplish everything and I don't foresee depriving myself of any sleep. I cut 3 inches off of Cat's hair the other day, and was pretty proud that it looked decent. I can't decide whether to cut my hair or to let it grow. I have been looking forward to long hair again , but I hate it right now and am really tempted to whack it off. Let me know what you think.

The Continuing Saga of Painting and Other Various Subjects

So, I have had one painter come out to give me a bid, and I have two today. I am still doing a majority of the painting, but am looking for someone to do the great room, stairwell and possibly the kitchen if I can swing it. I really want to get it done so that I can hang things on my walls. I refuse to put everything up and then have to redo it, especially the 6 huge curtain panels in the family room. There is so much to buy and it takes so long to save up for everything that I want, which means we have white walls and no furniture still. It is exciting to have our own place though and be doing it all ourselves. I fuss, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I am taking a break from the monotony and driving to LA for the weekend to see my best friend, Kelly, in the musical, Ragtime. I am very excited. I also am excited for my Dad's 70th birthday which is coming up. I love my Dad so much and it is fun to get to spoil him a little, when he will let me. Our life is starting to get back into our school year routine which is nice, summer really threw me for a loop this year. I love my schedule! Hopefully soon I will have some pictures to post. Until then....

Forgive the Funk

Okay, so I am over myself and moving on. We have been so busy lately. I am going to start watching a little girl in the mornings for about 45 minutes to an hour. I had decided that I wasn't cut out to be a babysitter, but I get sucked in by these adorable babies!!!! It is not bad because it is a time when I am home and it is not for very long and I told her parents that I would be going out of town a couple of times and they were really cool with it, so I am going to give it a try. Wish me luck! I am also excited because my sister-in-law Amanda was just here and I love her and her kids! I wish they lived closer, but I know LA (the state) is where they are meant to be. The dining room and the girls bathroom are finally painted, and yes, my bedroom is finally done! Now all I have to do is get the rest of my house painted, sew curtains for all the rooms, get furniture, and accessories and I will be done. Please feel free to come by and see the finished product in 2020...it will be a sight to see! On a more upbeat note, we are going away overnight and I am looking forward to relaxing by the pool and swimming with the girls. They are getting so big and it goes too fast! We started school with Cat this week and it has definitely been patchy to start. I took the summer off from teaching her and now my groove is GONE!! I did however, get my affidavit of intent printed out and just have to order a copy of her birth certificate from Spokane and I can get her officially registered to home school. It is so ridiculous that they won't let her take music and PE at the elementary school here until next year. She has been in school already for a year and I am filing legally with the school district, but they won't let me put her in until she is officially kindergarten age. Poor kid has been waiting and waiting and they just keep making her wait. It is okay, she will be able to take those classes next year and that will help me a ton, because then I will have one on one time to teach Sarah, who will be turning 3. As before mentioned, Cat started dance again and I love to watch her. She is so serious and yet so happy-go-lucky that it is a joy to see her having fun and learning at the same time. I didn't find a piano teacher out here who would take her for a price I felt like paying for my 4 year old so for the time being, I am teaching her piano myself until she gets a bit older. She loved her old teacher, Carlie, and misses her (I do to!). We are all doing well, time seems to fly by when you have so many projects and things going on. They called me as the choir director again in this ward, so I have choir practices and music to prepare. It is really a fabulous calling. They still haven't called Brady yet, so there is hope he won't have to do Scouts for a while. The girls are doing well in their classes. Sarah is adjusting to the poopin huge nursery and Catherine is so reverent that she often comes home with treats her teachers have given her. She is such a princess! We are loving our neighborhood and moved in at the right time. Everything is almost done and most of it is in other areas, so there is little activity and noise. The cement factory is set to close in a year or two so I can handle it. I really don't even notice it. The kittens are doing well, Brady and I did notice Rudy taking a more than brotherly notice of Greta last night and are anxious for this month to be up, so that they can go in for surgery and be done. I love kittens, but I don't feel like being a grandma yet. Speaking of kittens, my kittens Mom is having another litter and it will be her last, so if you want great kid cats, these are them. Life is moving on and I have already been shopping for winter clothes, which sounds ridiculous living in Az, but we are going to Wa in October and it will still be hot here and definitely will not be hot there. I found the cutest pink jacket and cable knit sweater that Gymboree had on sale this week and snatched them. The store I went to had only gotten in one of the jackets because they were selling so fast online and it was our size. I literally beamed with glee when I found that out. I am waiting for the rest of the collection to go on sale before I stock up. It makes it hard to buy clothes that my kids will only wear here for a month or so and only twice in WA. I am looking forward to seeing my parents for Halloween and Christmas this year. I love going home for my birthday and Christmas and having it snow, so it had better snow this year! Enough from me... I have to finish packing.

Sadness...

I am just sad...I am not pregnant again. It just gets harder and harder each time. Everyone keeps telling me it will happen when I am not stressed about it, but I am starting to feel like that is crap advice! Who in there right mind wouldn't be thinking about it all the time when it has been this long? It has just been a very hard weekend and beginning of the week. Please keep us in your prayers.

The Never-Ending Cycle of Life

So, here I am again, back to painting my room blue. I am a slacker and only finished half, so now I have to finish up so that the rest of the house can hopefully get painted someday. The kids are back on their school schedule, with Cat starting her fall ballet session yesterday. We will start our homeschooling routine today. I have had a rough couple of days and am looking forward to our routine being back to normal. Both the kids and I deal much better with life when we are on a schedule. It does get a bit monotonous when I feel like I just cleaned the stinkin bathrooms and it is already bathroom day again. I do love a clean bathroom and I do love cleaning bathrooms, so I guess I should say when it is already kitchen day or vacuuming day or dusting day...yuck! I am happy though that Amanda, Randy and their kids are here right now and that this weekend Amanda and the kids are coming to stay when Randy goes home. We are so excited to see them and it definitely feels like more than a two months since we have last seen them. I am also excited to see my sister next weekend. Things are busy, busy, busy and aren't slowing down! Keep me in your prayers that I don't catch fire down here!

It's an OCD, manic, freaky chic thing

Okay, so I feel like I have gotten nothing done this past week! Brady has been sick and now I am feeling under the weather, but, I did get 11 pages done at the Scrapbook late niter I went to on Friday and I spend all day today cleaning the house from top to bottom which it has needed since we moved in a month ago...gross! So, now everything is clean, but my bedroom is still half painted. I need to finish up all of the detailing I am doing and paint the other two walls, but finishing it seems to be impossible. Not to mention the rest of my house waiting to be painted and decorated. I think I finally decided on the colors for the family room, thank you Shantell. I am looking at fall colors,you know, rust orange, dark green, plum, browns, a gold maybe. I haven't gotten up the courage yet to buy drapery fabric because I can't make up my mind which route to take. After switching things up in my bedroom, I am not feeling like I can make more changes at the moment. It's that whole OCD, manic, freaky chic thing that I have going on. Who knows, but I do need to do something and fast!

I'd Like to Thank the Academy....

Melissa, you shouldn't have.....I have been nominated for this beautiful award and now it is time to nominate some of my friends.

1.Tara Fisher---You are one of my best friends! You always know just what to say to make me feel better and stop stressing, OCD-ing, or feeling down; that is a rare talent. I love your sense of style and the way that even when life sucks, it never gets you down.

2.Tanya--You are my fellow cleaner, organizer, obsesser and I love you for it. I also love the way that you tell the truth. I am so glad that you are finally home.

3.Melissa--Thank you for nominating me. I am so glad that you were the YW Pres. that I got to serve under in KBP ward! You are amazing and I relate to you so well! You are an inspiration to me and I hope that you know how special you are.

4. Michelle Shirley--The other YW Pres. that I know and love. You also are an inspiration to me and I love everything that you are. You are beautiful and a wonderful example of being the best that you can be.

5. Brooke Romney--I want to be you, it's as simple as that. You are a great wife and mom and through it all, look like you just walked out of a fashion magazine. You are a great spiritual example to me and I wish I was more like you in that area too.

6. Laura Tannery--I absolutely love reading your blog. You are the most fabulously funny blogger and person! I dig it, and kudos to you!

7. My two beautiful sisters-in-law Manda and Anna--You are both so important to me. I love being a part of this family when I get to have you both in it. You are such wonderful examples of what I strive to be like. I love you both.

Rules of award:

1. Post the award on your blog

2. Add a link to the person who nominated you.

3. Nominate 7 other people for this award and add links to their blog.

4. Leave a message for the people that you nominated!

It's Poop, Cat!

So I am changing Sarah's diaper just now because she is stinky. Catherine was asking me about dressing up for her Primary Activity this Saturday. We were discussing her dress and she didn't know what I was talking about and asked, " What is that Mom?", and Sarah answered her, "It's poop, Cat!" Sarah thought Cat had been asking what was in her diaper. The things that toddlers say.

It's never ending!!!

Painting-never ending
cleaning-never ending
children-never ending

I had been having kind of a rough day with Sarah and hit the end of my rope and she got put into time out in the powder room. She screamed and yelled and slowly I grew accustomed to the sound and tuned it out. I came to realize that I hadn't heard her in a while and went to see what she was up to and found an empty powder room. I then found all of her clothes and her diaper in the formal living room, then I found the lady of the hour sitting in the formal dining room, ripping up packing peanuts and feeding them to herself and the kittens, stark naked!! Naughty, just naughty! Then, I have Cat guarding the door of my bedroom so that the kittens can't get in the paint and of course they still got in and I found little blue kittie prints on my carpet. Not happy... Summers are difficult for kids. We can't go outside so they are stuck inside all of the time, which turns them into little monsters and they manage to find all sorts of mischief to get into. We are plugging away and making it work. The blinds go in on Saturday and hopefully, our bedroom will be done by then as well. Saturday Cat has a Primary Activity for Pioneer Day and gets to dress up like one. I will take pictures. The other day, we were at family dinner and Sarah came running in and said, " Whooy Whooy Whooy, one, one, one, it's going to wain." Translation: "Hurry, Hurry, Hurry, Run, Run , Run, it's going to rain!" There was a monsoon and she was very worried and convinced we needed to take cover. When we all just sat at the table, her little brow furrowed and the look of consternation was priceless! She was not happy that we fools were just sitting around and not heeding her advice. Poor little girl gets no respect. Wish me luck continuing on my painting, parenting adventure; until next time....

4th of July

We went to see Kit Kittredge, American Girl, on Friday with Grandma, Auntie Deborah, Auntie Karson, Emily Layton, Auntie Sarah and Aunt Anna, plus Emma and Abby. Auntie Deborah's friends joined us as well. We had lots of fun and there were lots of dollies there. We brought Mommy's special Samantha and Cat brought Felicity. We all had so much fun eating popcorn, and watching the movie. After we went swimming and had a huge BBQ that Spencer and Karson hosted, we were supposed to go watch fireworks, but we were so tired that we went home. The girls and I fell asleep in the car. Brady tried to wake us up to see some fireworks out by our house, but we all missed them. We feel so lucky to live in a free country and to be able to choose what we believe and what we will do. The 4th of July is such a great holiday!

Our little drama kittens

These are our kittens, Greta Garbo (the calico) and Rudolph Valentino the 2nd (the orange tabby). They are so adorable and my kids have played non-stop with them. It is so cute to watch Sarah carrying around a kitten. They get played with so much that they sleep all night long. They try to sleep during the day, but it never is for very long before one of the kids finds them. They were so tuckered the day we brought them home that I banned the kids from taking them out of the laundry room if they were sleeping in there. We are excited to have our super cute Hollywood kitties.

Newness...is that a word?

Everything is new; the house, the car, the kittens. Yes, we got kittens! Hooray! They are so adorable! It is just difficult to relax because I want everything to stay looking new. When it was already used it wasn't such a big deal. I tried putting pads on the bottom of the chairs so they wouldn't scratch the floor, but they have all fallen off and now are making little sticky marks on the floor...grrr! While I was loading the Brady's car during the move, I told him I had loaded it and he said, "You didn't scratch the leather did you?" I was sorely tempted to tell him I had loaded it with screw-laden shelves and other various pokie items, but alas I had only filled it with blankets and I cannot tell a lie. Keeping the kittens in one piece since yesterday has been a greater task than I anticipated as well. My darling little two year old has turned into the human scratching post because she refuses to learn that even kitties have personal boundaries. She has literally played with them non-stop since we got them yesterday afternoon. The girls have carried them around, chased them, played fishy toys with them, fed them, helped them discover every square inch of our house, and attempted to help potty train them. Both the kittens and the girls fell into a quick and deep sleep and I got to sleep in until 7:00am this morning. I've been needing these kittens in my life so that I can get more sleep. Who knew? I am off to do more unpacking and rearranging of things to find that perfect fit.

We are done...Finally!!

We are finally completely moved into our new house. We loaded up the U-Haul on Friday and moved everything out to "the QC". We are so excited. Thank you to Rick, Spencer and Kyle for helping us move, yet again. Luckily, now we shouldn't have to have anyone move us for a while. Carolyn took the kids over night on Friday so I got up early Saturday and started unpacking. Everything is done, but my crafts and Brady has to organize his computer stuff. We FINALLY got our gas turned on so we have hot water!!! Hooray!! It was hot enough that the water in the pipes was relatively warm, but the first step in was a killer. We also couldn't use our gas oven or stove top which made cooking really interesting. Today, everyone has come out to turn things on, Direct TV has been here for like 4 hours after being 8 hours late, the gas guy came at 7:45am and then the poor Qwest guy came during nap time and had to be quiet, we have rules in our house. We killed our first tail-less whip scorpion today, for those of you who watched the Las Vegas Fear Factor, the poor people had to eat them off of the card table. They are technically not scorpions because they don't have tails with stingers, they don't have a tail at all, nor do they have pincher claws. They also only have 6 legs and the ugliest feelers you have ever seen. They are about the same size as a scorpion and are very gross. It was dead under a box, thank you Blue Sky pest control, but still extremely nasty looking and kind of scary for my kids. I will take ugly over dangerous any day. They finished all of our maintenance from our walk through today after switching supervisors and they will regrade our backyard tomorrow. The landscaping company dropped off the first load of rock for the front yard and should start tomorrow or the next day. I get to go clean the old house tomorrow with my friends who were generous enough to help me and hopefully we will crank it out pretty quickly. I am anxious to be done having two houses that I am responsible for. I am so thankful for all the help that we have been given and for the ease with which we have bought, signed and moved into the house. Hopefully all will go well at the walk through at the old house on Friday. Our rental company was a huge pain in the rear end and I hope they don't try any punk action at the last minute. Wish me luck...

Packing, Moving and Other Monstrosities

Sarah took advantage of Mommy packing upstairs to get into the fridge and eat most of the probiotics I had in there. She also had managed to dump whatever she didn't get in her mouth on the floor. My poor house is a disaster and gross anyway, but now the floor is sticky over there. Yuck! I cannot stand living in filth and moving breeds nastiness. On a positive note the house has been leased so I don't have to show it anymore. The couple that got it were really nice people and had really cute little kids. I am happy for them. This has been a really good house for us. We are so excited to be done moving for a while and stay in our new house for more than a year, which is the longest we have lived anywhere since we got married. Hooray!! Only two more sleeps here and then we get to sleep in our new house. On a more somber note, for those of you who have been asking me about my sister-in-law, she had to have her leg amputated and has been in the hospital. We are hoping that this will take care of the infection that was running rampant through her body and that the chemo will take care of everything else. Keep saying prayers please. I will post some pics of the big move this weekend.

Shreveport, LA or Bossier City if you want to get specific

The B-52 or "BUFF" as it is called...(I learned what this stands for and I can't post it ), an alias is Big Ugly Fat "Fella".

The Gators at the Bass Pro Shop. Aren't they cute?

Cat and Kate, two cute little cousins

The girls, Sarah, Cat and Kate and their matching church dresses Auntie Manda got them

Playing in Auntie Manda's wheat buckets

Blowing bubbles on the back porch

I could not get this picture to post the right way! This is Luke and he is so cute!

The girls posing and hamming it up for the camera.

We had such a good time in Louisiana playing with our cousins. Auntie Manda and I had a good time too. It was so much fun playing and swimming and shopping and eating. I am so excited for them to come to the family reunion at Christmas and stay with us and the Nickerls too. Hopefully my house will be put together by then. I am definitely looking forward to having our kids get to play together again. It is so nice for Catherine to have someone her age to hang out with and play dress up and dollies and crafts with. Cat and Kate truly were like two little peas in a pod. Uncle Randy gets home from Guam today and hopefully he will like all of the work that Amanda has done on their new house. She has been sewing and painting and cleaning and doing so much! She looks beautiful and I know how much she is excited to have her husband back. We love you guys!!!

It's Official!!!

It's official, we own a house!!!! I am so excited!!! Now I just have to pack up everything we own and move it. I just keep telling myself, it is the last time for many years. I am really sick of moving. I picked up the keys this morning and tried them all out and had mail in my mailbox already. It was very exciting. We had to go up to Scottsdale yesterday to the title company which remarkably only took about an hour. Our U-Haul is set for Friday and then I just have to clean this house from top to bottom and I am done! Woohoo!!!

Louisiana Allergies

I literally got off of the plane in Dallas and was fine. The minute we crossed the LA border, I started sneezing and snotting and coughing and my nose is all stuffed up...seriously! Manda has been so good to me and has let me sleep in and take naps, when I am supposed to be here to help her. I hope that Randy will let me come back. We have been having so much fun and it is so nice here. I truly thought I would die from the humidity, but it is a lot cooler than Phoenix and hasn't bothered me as much as I thought it would. I have been loving spending time with Manda and her two adorable kids! It reminds me of when we were in high school and would stay up all night talking and giggling, we just didn't have kids then. We even got in trouble during church today for talking and giggling in Young Women's. Manda is the YW President, but wasn't teaching, and for the record we were actually talking about the lesson, so.... whatever. I am excited to go to the boardwalk and shop tomorrow and go and see the gators. I love gators!! I am so excited to see them! We might have already gone shopping once, but the kids got tired and we came home. He he he... then it is home on tuesday and back to reality and responsibility. I am excited to move into our house though, I do admit! Hooray! Hopefully, we will see the Todd's at our house sooner rather than later.

Pictures for the last little while

Dress Rehearsal
How Much is that Doggie in the Window
The Cutest Little Feet
Auntie Mira and Cat

We Pledge Allegiance