Sunday November 29th Thankfulness....

Today, I am thankful for my Mom.

I called my Mom today, because- apparently yesterday, she tried to have a fake heart attack , and she ended up cheering me up instead. She loves my with all her being and says she loves Max and Maddy the same as me but I know she's just trying to make them feel good. I am totally her favorite. She'll drop ANYTHING she's doing, if I'm coming in, even if it's for just an hour. Once, I even had to leave her at the Mall and my Dad had to come get her, because I had to leave for home that very minute. She is a good sport about stuff like that.


My mom is the best woman on the earth. I know other people thinks their moms are the best, but their wrong. Mine is. She stayed with me all the days we were at the hospital when Ruby was first born and having all her (fake) troubles. For all my Mom's wonderfulness, Ruby wouldn't love her, not even a little bit, for about 2 years. My Mom just kept on loving Ruby and Ruby finally gave in because, I think, she realized "Grandma tells stories". And she does tell the best stories, I still kinda believe my stuffed animals get up in the night and party, because of my Moms stories. She can make up a story about practically anything. Maddy found this out early and has PESTERED Grandma ever since. She "pat,pat,pats" her arm to keep Grandma on track with the story telling.

Today I was sad because at church EVERYONE is either pregnant or has just had a baby and I was feeling poor pitiful ME about it. My Mom told me all the things I already know, and just forgot. She made me feel better and more peaceful and calm. She is the perfect Mom for me.



I think I'll get a cheesy licence plate cover that says "my MOM is cooler than yours"

Thanksgiving thankfulness and beyond....

On Thursday November 26th Thanksgiving Day I was thankful for Max and him taking the blame for the sucky rolls I tried to make. They were sucky rolls BEFORE he turned off the oven in the middle of their baking. But he told everyone he was to blame. What a sweetie-pie.

Also, I am thankful for my yams, that my sweet Mother-in-law said were the best yams she had ever eaten. She's a pleasure. And while I'm at it, I am thankful for Max's mom who made a whole big Thanksgiving dinner just so we could come over and eat it with them. It was a very good day.

So on FRIDAY November 27th I was thankful that I wasn't out in the madness of Black Friday. Have I mentioned, that I am finished with my Christmas shopping? Cuz I am.

Saturday November 28th I was thankful that I finally had the big bad "BOB" talk with Maddy. FEW!

Also, we got to party with my friend, Jessica and her daughter, Ashton, for Ashton's 10th birthday. We had YUMMY food and Cafe Fresh in Orem, and crafted our guts out at a do it yourself craft place, kinda like Color Me Mine. It was super dooper fun.

Wednesday, November 25th Thankfulness....

It's de-licious. I blame Max.

Tuesday November 24th Thankfulness...

Today I am thankful for RUBY. Ruby is HILARIOUS. She brings lots of joy to our family. I'm always glad to have her here with us, even when she is being, not at all, a pleasure. Then, I am grateful for time out and doors.

Some funny stuff Ruby says:

We were about to read books one morning and she says "wait, I have to get my wedgie out. (pause) I wonder where wedgies come from".


Last week she was eating a graham crackers and milk snack, when, she said she was thirsty but she didn't want "chunky milk" She wanted (pause) chocolate milk.

She was sitting on my lap a few months ago, when she busted up laughing, and said "wouldn't it be funny if I tooted?" She thinks toots are the funniest thing ever invented.

Ruby remembers EVERYTHING. We went bowling with Jimi and her boys at least 18 months ago. Well, she saw the bowling alley from the freeway, and said "Mama, remember when we went bowling with Jimi? I want to go bowling again... it's my destiny".

Apparently, she's a beauty. People tell me.

She loves her dad most of all. But I'm not worried, I have Maddy.

Plus, I'm pretty sure she'll come around.

Monday November 23rd Thankfullness....

NEW MOON and dinner, with my friends.

Sunday November 22nd Thankfulness...

Today I am thankful for SHAN. Today is her very birthday, she's a pleasure. I met Shan through my beauty school friend, little Jessica. Shan lives 9.5 miles away from my house. We're glad she lives so close, because this time of the year Max is gone quite a bit and we are lonely, Shan comes over lots. We like it. Shan loves everyone best, and in turn, Shan is everyones favorite.

About every time Shan comes over she brings an activity, in fact, Ruby expects it. She came over last night because Max said that she only comes over when he is gone, and he gets gypped out of Shan time. Last night she brought a gingerbread house for her and the girls to decorate. I think Max was jealous. I was glad I wasn't helping, I just got to enjoy the decorating view.

It is a masterpiece.

We love Shan best.

The end.

Saturday November 21st Thankfulness...

I am thankful that it's Christmas time again. And that we put up all the decorations (minus the tree) yesterday. I am also thankful that I take money cash out of Max's pay checks every month and stash it away and never touch it and that is what we use for all things Christmas. Presents, caramels, decorations, and to help someone in need. I am thankful that, because I do that, Christmas is fun and non-stressy. Just don't ask me if I'm stressed as I am packing it all up to "move" to Max's parents house during to holiday. Once I'm there, I will be totally stress free.....

Hope yours is stress free too.

Friday November 20th Thankfulness...

Today, I am grateful for Max. He's the best guy I've ever met. He's fun and silly with the girls, yet stern and patient when he needs to be. He grumbles about all my crazy ideas but usually goes along with them. He used to watch Gilmore Girls with me, not because he liked it but because he liked how much I liked it. He's very understanding and always tries to see others points of view. It's very hard to fight with him because he is always so understanding, but I do try. ;)

He lets me take the silliest pictures of him, knowing full well that I will blog about them.

He's also pretty easy on the eyes, and thinks I'm beautiful even with my extra *cough cough* chubs, wrinkles, gray hair, and stray chin furs.

My Mom said, on my first Thankfulness post, this about Max:

"I'm thankful for Max too but for a whole lot of different reasons. He's fair--always sees both sides. He thought of me on the WORST day of his life. He takes care of his three girls. He is a good worker. He's super nice and yet must have to be super stern to run a crew. He has a fun personality. I love his laugh. He's a super duper gardener. He's just a great guy, all around."

I read that comment, and thought to myself, "I think she might love Max best."

And yesterday my suspicions were confirmed when I was talking to my Mom on the phone. We were talking, as we most always do, about how much she loves me, and how I am her favorite. "Well", she adds "I love Maddy most too.....and I think I might love Max best" (Poor Ruby, right?) I don't know how I feel about sharing the favorite title with other people, even if they are my own personal family.

The HORROR.

He is a great father and a not to shabby hubby. It hurts me to think of live without him. I hope I never have to.

I love his guts and also his butt. Just kidding, but not really.

The end.

Thursday November 19th Thankfullness...

I am thankful for lip chap.....

and not to mention, lip gloss.

The end.

Wednesday November 18th Thankfulness...

Today I am thankful for Bailey. Bailey, as you know, is Maddy's best ever friend. Today is her 10 year old birthday. She isn't Maddys "BFF" (best friends forever) because they think that is "totally lame". They've made up some other letter sequence that I think is equally weird, but I'm not nine (or ten in Bailey's case).

Bailey is fun and kind to most everyone, she has a bit of a hard time being nice to all the boys who like her. She loves Maddy big time. She is outgoing and super cute and loves our family like her own. She send me a text, and an email, on Mother's Day this past year. The email said "Happy Mother's Day, you are like a second Mom to me." I love that kid. She has helped Maddy be more outgoing and less shy. They are both the best kids you'll ever find.


I also love her parents just as much as I love Bailey. They love Maddy and are so sweet and kind to her. They are fun people too. They live into town and have horses and TONS of land and lots of fun stuff to do whenever Maddy goes over there. These are the sock puppets they made one day after school. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I am not that fun.


I think I wrote about this picture. It's when they used this "bucket" for a swimming pool, and then had to get in the bathtub to warm up. The are totally crazy.

They both will never let me take a NORMAL picture of them. Bailey had an apple slice in her mouth and I caught Maddy just AFTER she had pulled a strange face.

I am so thankful that Maddy and Bailey found each other, and that they are such great friends already. I didn't meet my super dooper best friend, Emily, until 7th grade. What a waste of elementary school. I hope we can keep Bailey around forever. She's a pleasure, just like Maddy.

November 17th Thankfulness

Today (yesterday) I am thankful for this kid. Maddy. She is a pleasure. She makes my day happier. Maddy is the best 9 almost 10 year old kid I have even met.

She's adventurous, kind, silly and a delight to be around. She is a good friend to everyone. She doesn't want to be mean or rotten EVER. Even to the people who are mean and rotten to her.

She wants to do what is right ALL of the time. Even if we haven't practiced her spelling and I tell her just to mark it off because we will practice doubly extra hard after school, she about has a heart attack. Then I have to drive her to school instead of her taking the bus so we can do her darn spelling....I'm not sure if that even ever happened. ;)

She is fun with her little sister, she is always conjuring up exciting stuff to do with her. It almost always involves dressing up and building something magical. Like a fairy garden in her room, or a mermaid paradise in the bathroom sink for the Polly Pocket dolls. Ruby is a pill A LOT of the time to Maddy, and Maddy is MOST ALWAYS patient and kind and CALM with her. I say she is mostly patient with Ru, cuz there is only so much a sister can take.

She will do anything you ask her and some that you don't. Yesterday was not my favorite day. After school, Maddy asked how my day had been (she always does), I said "not great" , she said she was sorry and that she thought so. And then she asked what she could do to help me. She cleaned up and folded the laundry and set the table all before I even noticed what she was doing. Max said that she was a good example to him because he saw her folding the laundry and putting her folded clothes away so he thought he could do that too.

And POOF, the laundry was put away-- and not by me.

Maddy adores fashion and jewelry and high heals. But love fishing and rocks and nature-y stuff just as much. She also loves books and plans what she is going to read 3 books in advance. She is GREAT.

I love Maddy. She's a pleasure.

November 16th Thankfulness...

Monday November 16th: I am thankful that my Christmas shopping is almost finished. Thanks to shopping with my Mom (and Alz) today.

November 14th and 15th Thankfulness

Saturday November 14th I was thankful for the first snow.

The girlies were so excited for the 1/2 inch that fell, that they played out in it for about 13 minutes before wanting hot chocolate.

They worked and worked to gather enough snow to make this piddly snow lady. I don't know what Mads is pointing at.

It snowed all day Saturday too, and on Sunday, they played for a full hour and a half in it! (which brings me to Sunday's thankful post) Those girls were POPSICLES when they came in, but they had so much fun while they were out. Maddy's gloves were so wet she actually rung them out before hanging them up to dry.

Sunday November 15th I am thankful for the hour and a half I had of "alone time" to:

clean the kitchen, do the dishes, wipe the counters, scrub the sink, sweep the floor, tidy the living room, vacuum the living room/hall/bedroom, shower, put on make-up, do my hair and read a magazine (catalog), all without any "helpers". I am very grateful for my babies, but to do all of that ALONE was heavenly bliss! I tell Max all the time, that if I were alone all day the house would GET spotless and STAY spotless. What a boring day that would be.

The end.

Horsing around.

The other day, my phone rang. It was my cute neighbor, Jason. He lives across the street and is very rarely home. Anyways, I answered and he said "do you have any little girls over there" I first thought he was missing his daughter, she shows up occasionally for visits and usually brings a cousin or two with her. Then I got suspicious so I opened up the front door and there he was, at the bottom of our driveway on his horse.

He's not very cooperative in the posing department. That's his little nephew, Legend, behind him.

He had come to see if the girls wanted a ride. Cute huh? He gave the girls lots of rides- so many that he had to RUN his horse back so he could put him away before it got dark.

In return, we gave his horse a few of our garden carrots. And some for his horsey friends too.

The girls were excited and I was excited for them. Maddy is getting so "old". She didn't want to act like it was a big deal if she had a ride or not, so when he asked her if she wanted another ride she just said: "uhh sure".

November 12 -13 Thankfulness

Perhaps I should be thankful for things on their actual day. But really, where's the fun in that?

ON November 12th I am was Thankful for: Girls night out.

I get together, once a month with a group of 11 other girls and we play "Bunko". Its a fun, relaxing time to see, and catch up with all of them. We take turns hosting "Bunko" night, I am thankful that I did my night in September and I am done hosting for over a year. My back yard neighbor, Natalie, hosted last night so I just had to walk through our yards. It was raining.

The main rule of Bunko: You DON'T miss Bunko.

The best part about Bunko: you always get a prize, you eat yummy food you didn't have to cook, there is always dessert, everyone is happy to see you and it's never about the game.

Today, November 13th (Friday) I am Thankful for: All the shoes we have. That may sound vain and snottish but we just watched the news and there's a school up in West Jordan that's in DIRE need of shoes for many of their students. One little girl wore flip-flops to school all week long, and when her teacher told her she needed to wear other shoes she said the only shoes she had were the ones she wore to church. The girls and Max and I have lots of shoes. We have more then enough, (I dare say we may have TOO many) and all that little girl had were flip-flops and Sunday shoes. If you wanna read the whole bit click here. I have LOADS of shoes that Maddy out grew last year when she went from a size 1 to a size 3.5. I wonder if I could find that schools address.

I am grateful that I can wear other shoes, besides flip-flops (even thought they're my first choice) in this yuck weather, and our children always have warm pigs.

November 11th Thankfulness

Yesterday, I was thankful for...not much. I'm sick, the girls have been sick, and are still a little sick and Max had to go out of town for work. When he came home he wasn't feeling great. (You know how boys are when they aren't feeling great) Then, after dinner we were all sitting around watching So You Think You Can Dance (the dancing night) when I said: "I'm still hungry", and everyone else said: "ME TOO". And I said: "I'm hungry for cookies". And everyone else said: "Me TOO". So I got up, and made cookies. I tried to only make them during the commercial breaks but cookies are very important so I spilled into some of the dancing times. AND can you believe, No one paused the TV for me. I was NOT thankful for my family at moment.

Also, I did what any respectful person would do. I pouted. I told them that they could eat some cookies and then it was time for bed. I went to my room, shut slammed the door and watched So You Think You Can Dance all by myself. It was very mature of me. And I didn't even eat one of my own cookies.

So yesterday, I was just thankful for Sister Bott, who is the Activity Day leader for the 10-11 year old girls. She planned a combined activity for us and just asked me to bring scissors. How hard is that? She is a pleasure. Her activity was about being thankful! I didn't learn much?

Sister Bott is thankful that I am in charge of Decembers combined activity, she even said so. I am thankful that my Mom gave me 96% of what I need for Decembers activity.

November 10th Thankfulness

Today I am thankful for MEG - who did this to my toes yesterday.

Disregard my shiny happy toes. (The camera adds ten pounds. :)

She's a genius, I tell you.

Also, she is all booked up for the rest of the year.

Imagine that.

November the 9th Thankfulness

Today, I am Thankful for my little sister Alzabeth. Today is her 21st birthday! She was born during a very trially time for my family. And there for is totally crabby herself. She has brought lots of fun and laughs to our family (when she was little). In fact, did I ever mention the time she ran smack dab into the glass window on our way to Disney World? It's only my single most favorite memory of my childhood.



She is very lovable, despite what she might say. And she is cute as heck. About every time I see her she tries to see if she is taller than I am. She never will be, which is sad because I am pretty much the shortest person I know. Besides her.

Remember when she used to have hair like this, and was still cute? I know, she's lame.

This is her boyfriend, Jason, he is a very lovable hairball too. (But he does need a haircut)

Happy Birthday Alz, I love you bigger than the whole sky, thanks for coming down and making me NOT be the only girl of the family. I love you so much, I names my Ruby child after you.

I am still the favorite-but you are the best.

November a day Thankfulness

Apparently, I am more of a "November an every other day thankfulness" kind of girl.

November 8th I am thankful we live so close to both of our familys. We get to see them all the time and the girls get to grow up knowing most of them. Max's hairball siblings are all over North America but his parents and Grandpa and Aunts and Uncles are close enough to gather for birthdays and such. We saw them all last night at a birthday celebration for Max's Dad and his Aunt Bee (or is it just "B")

We are so excited for Christmas because MOST (darn Tierney!) of his hairball siblings are coming to Utah to spend it with us. Maddy and I say it is the best part of Christmas. IT IS. We are giddy with excitement. So yesterday I am thankful for close by families. And also, I am thankful that I get along and LOVE all of them.

The end.

November 5th and 6th Thankfulness....

Ok so I probably need to work on the procrastinating blog posts. Since I didn't be thankful about yesterday.

So on November 5th I was thankful for Big hugie pain pill that took my tooth ache away. I am not thankful for what appears to be another tooth of mine biting the dust. Should I really be thankful for drugs? The end.

While I'm at it, I'll be thankful for today's too.

November 6th I am thankful for my teeny tiny Toyota car. It fits so nicely into squishy parking spots , I can drive the wrong way on a parking aisle (there Alz, I used the correct spelling) and turn sharp and fit quite nicely into a "Front Row Joe" spot. I know because that is what happened today at Wal-mart. Plus, the gas mileage it gets is spectacular.

My little car is also a very healthy little button. It has never had a major trouble, and we have had it for 6ish years. KNOCK ON WOOD.

I will be sad to let it go- if we ever happen to have another chillin'. (no announcement yet) That's the only thing I don't love about it is that it will not hold 3 children without making them all squished and scrunched.

November 5th thankfulness

I was too busy partying with my friend, Jeanne, (who is about 3 days from having baby #6) last night to blog about my blessings.

So, yesterday, I was thankful That Ruby was feeling better and her fever was gone. I was also thankful for the nap she took which gave me a break to shower and clean the kitchen before Maddy and Max got home. You see, Ruby was feeling better, so she wanting to play A LOT and read books and color and do crafts and have snacks and even have me watch TV with her -a lot- along with all sorts of other fun stuff. I was happy doing all of that with her. I was also happy she napped.

Yesterday, I was thankful Ruby was feeling better.

Halloween 2009 and unauthorized camera usage...

Here is Ruby, all ready for her pre-school Halloween party.

Here is Ruby ready to go trick or treating on Halloween night.

Ruby's fancy face.

I took Ruby out by herself trick or treating. Maddy chose to go with her friends (boys). and let me tell you, Ruby got twice as much candy as Maddy did. Also, Maddy was in such a hurry to go out that we didn't get any pictures of her on that actual Halloween night.

One pooped Shiny Pretty Princess.

On excited Shiny Pretty Princess will all her loot.

That was Halloween.

Now for the unauthorized camera usage....Complements of Ruby.

Pumpkin picture of Maddy peeking out of her crib.

My feet and some clearance fall decorations.

Ruby's skirt.

The inside of Ruby's shoe.

Not too shabby picture of CUTE Maddy, taken by Ru.

Oh DEAR....in my defense, she told me to be silly.

TA DA.

And now Halloween is FINALLY over.

Boo Hoo hootie hoo.