what a beautiful mess

Insanely good. Highlights: 1. We went on a date. 4 whole hours of just me and Trevor. We went out to eat, went to see Unknown, (which was so good), talked, and did all the things that make a date awesome.  2. The boys had a Star Wars festival and the girls went shopping.  3. I went to see Julie Beck with Jenee on Saturday morning. It was so worth waking up early and driving to Rexburg to see her.  4. I got a nap on Sunday which was great cause church was a little crazy.   5. The kids got to pull all the couch cushions off and jump around and have fun. Except Emily. I think she feels to old for that so she just gets on the computer and plays games. 6. Trevor and I spent a good hour laying like the parents on "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and playing truth or dare with the kids. Stephen and Josh both took a spoonful of vinegar, Anna sang everyone a song, Emily walked on her knees from the front room to the kitchen and we found out some really useful infor...

These girls love American Idol.....  I've taught them well.

But he won't let me call him my baby anymore.  He's my big boy now.  And a silly boy also.  We had cousins over and it was great!  This is our first birthday party celebrated with our (past) Georgia cousins  and we loved it... I love my Joshy.  Seriously adore him and everything about him.  He is so quirky (which of my kids isn't!?!)  and so sweet.  He's learning the difference between dead and pretend right now.  Dinosaurs are dead and werewolves are make believe.  He thinks dinosaurs were polka dotted and purple and green. And he thinks Michael Jackson was a werewolf.  And apparently, Michael Jackson lives in our bathroom.  Not really but if you take his logic that Michael is a werewolf and werewolves are in the bathroom than I guess that's were Michael now makes his home.   Even though he's dead.  Who knows?  All I know is that everyday he makes me laugh and smile  and happy and grateful. Unles...

Joshua loved the idea of all the "stuff" that had to be done for his mission but when it came time to do all that "stuff",  he wasn't really into it. He didn't help with his lesson on The Book of Mormon or help to make his dinner and dessert. But he did do a great job repeating everything I said during the lesson.  And I think he learned a lot.   Plus he is so dang cute. That brown blob on his plate? That was his dessert which he decided this morning he doesn't like. Although everyone else in the family liked them. AND Today is his birthday!!!! My big boy is now 4 years old. When I told him Happy Birthday this morning he said  "I'm 4 but I don't look big".  He thought he was actually going to grow. He made sure I noticed that he didn't grow by standing up for me and again repeating what he had already said. All I could do was laugh. He's growing up way too fast.....

Sometimes I like to annoy this man on our way trips.  Especially since we sit so close.  I'm not in any hurry to get another vehicle.  I can think of nothing I would rather be doing on a trip than  sitting close, singing, eating snacks, talking, and duet-ing with Trevor.  We heard/sang "beat it", "almost paradise" and "sara" on our way home.  The music was awesome.   And here is the purpose of our whole trip!  Welcome to the world  Kyran Stephen!!!  Candice's first experiences with her two babies.   What's up with the tongues? And who took this picture anyway?   Grandpa holding his newest nephew.  Me and mom.  I was so happy to see my parents. It had been about 6 months since I last saw them. We stayed up late Saturday night talking and laughing.   He was such a sleepy guy. And I caught him right in the middle of a yawn.  Unfortunately I missed the birth by about 45 minutes. But Candice d...

Stephen had probably one of the worst experiences of his short life up till now today. It's probably a tie between what happened today and that time the dog attacked him with the "love bug". Probably one of Josh's worst experiences also.  Heres the story: We went to Target after the kids got out of school for some shoes and shirts and socks. I had a feeling (aka: prompting) to not go to Target today. Did I listen to that little small voice telling me to just head home?  Ummmm, no.  We went anyways. All was going well. We had already picked out everything we needed and I thought that since we were there, I might as well look at the womens clothing. With 4 children tagging along, that's never a good idea.  I should never go to that part of Target unless I'm alone or with a sister/friend.  I saw 2 whole racks of skinny jeans and, much to my disappointment, was just approaching the third when I heard Stephen crying. He was with Joshua at the cart...

What can I say about this kid?  Wow.  He did such a good job teaching us about the people of Mexico and about the First Vision.  I never get tired of learning about Joseph Smith. Especially when my children are the ones teaching me.  We enjoyed some tacos for dinner and Cheesecake Sopapilla for dessert~ we were thinking of you Quinny-Poo!  And because there hasn't been one in awhile,  here's a picture of mine truly....  looking like a monkey.... or an ape.  He's taking me on a date this weekend.  It's been way too long since we've been on a date that's been out of the house.  I'm going to get all dressed up and smelling nice. Not that that's unusual. Okay, it's maybe a little unusual.  And  Again, it's a beautiful day outside.  Josh and I went for a drive and drove until the pavement ran out.  So we turned around and came home.  Now I'm off to get dressed and cleaned up cause play group's at my house today....

Valentines is my new favorite holiday.  We had such a good day.  So good in fact, that we didn't take any pictures.  But we ate dinner by candlelight, had a FHE filled with hearts and  a lesson on love and some strawberry shortcake for dessert.  We gave the kids Mad Libs, which I knew they would love and of course, they do.  And Trevor and I stayed up waiting for Anna to fall asleep so we could celebrate.  We ended up falling asleep ourselves for a short little nap.  And she eventually fell asleep which she thought would NEVER happen.  And today has been such a beautiful day!!!!!!! We had the windows open this morning while I was cleaning and we went to the park where we played and ran around and swinged on the swings.  (thats how Joshua says it and I don't know the proper way; swang, swung??) And although we have a couple of days of snow ahead of us I know that spring will come eventually. I can't wait.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace. I love thee to the level of everyday's Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. I love thee with a passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death. ~Elizabeth Barrett Browning Trevor and I watched this video yesterday. We loved it. Watch it  here . For now, I have a dinner to make, a lesson to prepare (on love, of course!) and a house to clean. I have something special in mind for my family tonight and I can't wait! Happy Valentines Day!!!

"Heroes in a half shell, TURTLE POWER!"  The character of the day. He was the blue turtle and I was The Shredder.  Yesterday he was Batman and I was Robin. Joshy has a really good imagination.  He also uses the Vita-Mix tamper as his sword no matter who he is.  Even when we play star wars and he has two different light sabers,  he still uses the Vita Mix tamper.  I wash that thing a lot.   ******************************* You know what I love?  Thoughtful, unexpected gifts. Right now, I'm sitting here at the computer with very warm toes cause  Trevor bought me toe warmer gel packs from the gas station.  And surprised me with them.  A few weeks ago, he bought me a book cause he thought I would like it and I swear it's exactly what I need to be reading right now.  Books, toe gels; this man knows me so well. 

Although I'm not going to lie, it's also one of the hardest. There's still homework to be done, chores to do(if I can muster up the energy to make them do them), snacks to make, dinner to make, fights to solve and cries to console.  But there's still laughing to be done and jokes to be made,  paper to color and love notes to write.  All of this done in time for everyones favorite time of the day... 6:00 when Daddy comes home. 

I'll show you one of my lunch today.  Banana with chocolate peanut butter and granola.  My friend  Jessica  had a picture of her breakfast today on her blog~  oatmeal with brown sugar and choco chips. YUMMY! I think the picture is a little too large but I wanted you all to see the deliciousness of it. Have you bought chocolate Peanut Butter yet? Please do. I want everyone in the world to love it as much as I do. ********************************** Joshua just pooped in his underwear for about the zillioneth time in the last week. I'm really getting tired of it and now I'm in a bit of a bad mood.  But I have a trevor and a cupcake waiting for me so all's good.  Now I'm off to kiss Joshua goodnight cause I can only stay mad at him for so long and that's only about 5 mins tops. 

Annabelle's turn! She did a great job. Dinner was Brats with Sauerkraut, and potato cakes (our new favorite way to eat potatoes!).  And for dessert we had Bravarian Cream with chocolate drizzled on top. Delicious! She gave a great lesson on Latter Day Prophets and we learned a lot. We love you Anna! Thanks for doing such a wonderful job!

although the sun was quite elusive.  I guess it's just not ready to show it's face today.  But it's a glorious morning!  Spring is on it's way... I can feel it in the air.... it must be the rain. AND  I discovered where I want to live: I'll take the horses also, please and thankyouverymuch. 

I find myself talking about Boise a lot. I talk about the things I loved there that made it such a great place to live and I talk about the reasons why I miss it. I'm sure it gets very annoying. But I really loved Boise. Really, really loved it. So in order to put myself in a more positive frame of mind, I'm going to list some reasons why I like Idaho Falls. I really like lists and so maybe if I make a list about Idaho Falls, the two likes will merge and I will magically love it here! Did that make sense? No? It didn't make to sense to me either so lets just commence with the list. 1. I love the location of where I live. I'm only one minute from Cafe Rio and shopping....for whenever I start shopping again. 2. The people seem to be a little more carefree. Moms will actually go to the store with no makeup on or maybe with a ponytail. (I've come a long way from when we lived in Pocatello and I cried after my first trip to Wal-Mart). 3. People use the word...

I mean that in a good way, believe it or not... The sun is shining through the window, right in my eyes and I could care less.  In fact it is the most lovely thing! Its always amazing to me that the sun can be shining brilliantly and  still the temperatures are well below freezing.  Very deceiving.  Want to know what's not deceiving? Joshua.  He's just as sweet as he is cute. We're letting the morning drag out a little bit, staying in our pj's, eating toast and granola and watching cartoons.  If I can put off making beds for just a little while longer, I will! Want the best granola recipe ever, EVER??? Go  here . She uses sweetened condensed milk.  Who doesn't love that stuff??? Unfortunately, I just got done eating the last of it.  And I just made it on Tuesday.  It's that good.

Another day closer to spring~ and it is so cold here in Idaho Falls. High for tomorrow? 11 degrees. And tonight is suppose to get down to -15..... Heaven help me...