A Crazy Red Head: September 2008

SPT - because of a blogger - personal growth edition

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

I'm top row, center

I'm back row, far right

I'm the blushing bride!

I'm the farthest left

This should have been the easiest of the five SPT posts for September's theme: because of a blogger - personal growth edition. But, I have had a hard time thinking of one blogger or even many that have changed who I am ~ because you all have. I love being able to take a moment and keep track of my crazy life, to jot down a blurb about my children, what they said, what they did. I love making other people laugh with me. I love writing and firmly believe that if we don't use the skills we have we will lose the ability to do so! I am a middle child and really like having a place to spout out my opinion but I really don't think that I have been blogging long enough in comparison with everyone else out there. But, I love reading about you!

It seems that nothing I do is original or my own. We even started blogging as a group of sisters. I am so glad that my baby sister decided to do this blog thing! We used to work together at Zions Bank, we have little boys the same age, and we are the best of friends. It is so fun to leave comments on her blog!

I am so glad that I found out what this SPT blog thing is! I'm always the person behind the camera ~ it is a very safe place to be, but I do love having pictures of me on my blog. So I will keep working on it and continue to take pictures of myself. It proves that I really was there and am here!!!

How has blogging made your life better?
Will you check out Lelly's Blog and do an spt too?

Back to the Grind

Monday, September 29, 2008

~ ~ We had such a fun and crazy weekend, but I don't have any pictures to show for it... Friday night started the weekend off with Jennifer's baby shower. We had so much fun laughing and giggling. Then we started scrap booking and making cards. To my dismay, I left all of my pictures home! So I helped Wendy and Becky with the vinyl machine {I am such a genius}! At around 3 am we all decided to drift off to sleep and Erin and I continued to talk while laying down for another 4 hours... Laura woke up around 6:30 AM and decided to drive home, soon followed by Becky and Mom. But Erin and I slept until 1 in the afternoon! I came home to a clean and empty house. Dan had taken the both kids fishing with his Dad! This was such a pleasant surprise!!!

~ ~ We had an incredible day at Church. Chloe participated in the Primary Program for sacrament meeting, which included the older boys standing up and singing Called to Serve. There is this young man/boy who knew all of the words and was singing as loud as he could. I was crying ~ it was so sweet. They even had the missionaries serving in our stake singing with them. Chloe's knew her part {The prophet leads the church} and some of most of the songs they sang! Also, we had a new bishopric put in place. Even though sacrament meeting went into overtime, nursery seemed very, very long!

~ ~ Sunday was my oldest sister, Laura's, 40th Birthday! We all got together for a little FHE at Becky's house, wearing black ~ morning Laura's youth! I had a really fun time filling a basket full of little things {in groups of 40} for her! She is an amazing woman who can do anything that she puts her mind to. She is a little crazy and goes overboard in everything she does! She is a hard worker and really fun to be around! She is the planner of our family as well as the pot stirrer! Although her youth and naturally black hair will be missed ~ I love you Laura!

Stop, Drop & Roll!!!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Today Chloe's preschool class went to visit the fire station.

Seth was in heaven being part of school!

He was really interested in Fireman Terry's Fire Suit

And learned to crawl if there is ever smoke!

They all got to be inside an Ambulance ~ Knock on Wood!!!

They got to feel how heavy the JAWS OF LIFE are!

Jacob {with his new haircut}

Chloe {in the fire truck}

The Little Monkeys Preschool ~ September 2008

The Circus! The Circus! I love the Circus!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

When was the last time you went to the circus? Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus has come to town today. They pulled up to the Gateway Center with their mile long train and Erin, Krystal and I met them there for the Elephant Parade! Kendall is working at the Gateway doing electrician stuff and they had to shut down all work for an hour so they wouldn't startle the animals. We found the perfect spot under the overpass and enjoyed some shade, some ring pops, and a short miniature version of the circus. The best part about it was that it was free!!!

Who knew police men could have a sense of humor???The elephants were very large and amazing. It was so cute how they held the tail of the elephant in front of them with their trunks! We were very close and as mothers we had everything gathered together, just in case! In case of what, I don't know ~ but Kendall did comment about our choice of sitting next to these nice strong columns, if the elephants decided to stampede or charge, they should provide enough protection to hide behind...

Afterwards we met at McDonald's for some food and fun:
Even though it only lasted ten minutes & Chloe threw up on the way there, the kids thought that we took them to the circus and we can now mark that off the list!

Update on Consequences

I have loved all of the feed back concerning Chloe and my lack of mothering skills {Laura}. Dan and I decided that we would take away her TV privileges for four days {she was four} as punishment for cutting Jacob's hair. She has had to do some extra chores to help pay for the fixing of her blind strings. We again talked about how we don't cut our own hair or any one else's, for that matter! I talked to her and told her that if she was to cut any one's hair again, I would cut her blanket up into little pieces and throw it all away. If she pees in or on any of her toys again, they will be immediately thrown out!!! It is so hard to follow through with consequences that make my life harder... Chloe has sucked her pointer finger for so long and we have been trying everything to help her not suck her finger. We have ignored it, painted stuff on that fingernail, dowsed it in vinegar and hot sauce... Most recently, while talking about her upcoming birthday, I told her that if she wanted to have a birthday party with her friends she would have to stop sucking her finger. Her birthday has come and gone and she didn't get a party. I am so disappointed. I had planned to have a two hour birthday/slumber party. Have a few friends over in their PJ's, have popcorn, watch a movie, create fabulous pillow cases, paint toenails {Super Sparkly}, decorate cupcakes, eat them and send them home! She tells me that she wants balloons at her party. I remind her that if she stops sucking her finger I will get balloons at her party...

SPT ~ In the Kitchen

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Because of a Blogger...

Lelly's post about cooking from cookbooks made me really think. I love finding new recipes and blogging is a wonderful way to find those tried and true recipes! But my Kitchen blog is about my kitchen. My fabulous sister Laura came over to my house shortly after I had moved in and was literally sitting on her hands. The temptation to rearrange was so strong that she just started pulling everything off of my shelves, cabinets, and walls. She placed everything so that it looked like a professional decorator made the display:

I love this silk screened magnetic, dry-erase calendar!

Sadly she is not the greatest blogger and just hounds me when I put funny/embarrassing stuff about her in mine! And she no longer makes crafts to sell but my other sisters {check out last weeks spt blog} can and do still make some of this stuff!

Happy Birthday Chloe

Chloe is now FIVE!!!

Little Sahara Sand Dunes

Monday, September 22, 2008

Every Spring and Fall we head down to the sand dunes with my family to ride and ride and ride! Chloe and Seth love spending time there with their cousins and really, really like to ride on the tri-zinger, the motorcycles, the four wheelers, and grandpa's rino. We sold our sleeping trailer a little while ago and weren't sure if we were going to go this last weekend. But Dan was able to get his bike together and we borrowed grandpa's trailer and headed out {very slowly} on Thursday afternoon. On the way we stopped and registered Dan's bike, picked up the rino at Grandpa's, picked up the four wheelers at work, stopped for gas at two different stations, and stopped for dinner with Sam, Erin and Kendall. It took us like five hours to get there and was it was very dark when we finally pulled in. We settled in and went to bed... Friday was Sam's 2nd Birthday and we were so excited {Seth was sad} to give Sammy this little yellow truck, tractor and trailer!