Cul-de-sac

I live in a cul-de-sac and am sure my kids would not be alive still if I didn't. It is wonderful.

Jack runs out occasionally without pants.

Kire & Austin can drive their cars & bikes without worrying about getting hit. And they can chase and bother the group of little girls that play too.

BTW, Kire was sad the other day because the girl neighbors were playing barbies and didn't want to play with him and he asked if he could play. I told him barbies were for girls. He said, "But there's boy ones." Elise, don't let him play barbies, even if it's Ken, thanks.

The kids play outside all day. I can sit on my porch and do yard work or read and let the kids run around. I don't know what I'm going to do during the winter.

Kire started preschool again, so that will help keep him busy once it's cold outside.

This year his best friend Austin is in his class. They are so funny. Kire asks me all the time, "when will I be as big as Austin." Well, probably never, but you're older I tell him.

Austin has a little brother, Carson, who is just younger that Jack. His mom watches the boys mondays while I'm at work and she emailed me this picture.

I'm glad the boys are being put to work.
If Jack's lucky Kire will take him for a ride. But usually Austin is willing.

Peeta

I saw Peeta on GLee last night. Seriously, the new kid Sam is what i have pictured in my head as how Peeta looks. He's darling and has a beautiful voice. But supposedly he is going to be playing Kurt's boyfriend.

I'm glad Glee's back. Sometimes the songs can be a bit too much, but the dialogue is so witty.

I also watched Raising Hope last night. I'd heard good reviews about the show. It was outrageous and pretty funny.

FML

Today I had my IUD removed.

This bastard has been inside me for 4 months and has just caused me problems. I heard the mirena iud was a good option. You don't have to worry about birth control and it is supposed to make your periods lighter, and possibly non-existent. I got it at the end of April and kept hoping my periods would get better, but I am having a period every 2 weeks, I've broken out, and it's making me crazy emotional. FML.

So today I finally had it removed and my doc said a lot of people have these problems so I'm not crazy. She also asked if I'd gained weight, and I have gained 7 pounds, despite running like 15 miles a week. So I'm pissed I waited so long to have it removed, but hope it won't take too long for the side-effects to go away.

So maybe now I'll be able to lose some weight.

Also, while I'm complaining, Erik has 2 chores: mow the lawn and do the garbage's. This week I jokingly offered to pay my neighbor, KG, to mow my lawn because it had been over 2 weeks. He volunteered to do the front yard, but I told him not to worry about it. 5 minutes later he's out mowing my lawn, so Erik ran out there out of guilt and got it done. And today, garbage day, Erik didn't get the cans out to the curb. FML. Am I really asking too much? What chores do your husbands do?

So I apologize to my neighbors for my ugly lawn and stinky trash.

Damn you football season.

Vampire Diaries

Thank you for returning. I've missed your beautiful faces, and your even more beautiful bodies.

Elena, just give into Damon already. You know you want him and you're just making him mean and crazy again. I thought for sure you were going to give into him when he showed up in your bedroom, instead he killed your brother, and it's your fault.

Didn't it just break your heart when both Katherine and Elena told Damon that it was always Stefan. Sigh.

FML

I have been in the process of redoing my bathroom for like 4 months. I painted the cabinet black, then painted the walls grey. The paint looks blue so I got new paint but have been waiting to paint because I want my husband to do a few things in the bathroom first. I have left over bead board from putting it up in my kitchen. So he needs to cut it and glue it up. I also bought a new light fixture and towel & toilet paper rings. So the old needs to come down so I can paint.

Erik's great, he's a great dad and so kind and loving, but he IS NOT HANDY. He hates projects. He hates having to figure anything out. I've done most of the painting, projects, and upgrades in our house, but there are some things I can't do, like saw & mess with electricity. He doesn't care how the bathroom looks, so it's not a priority to him. I hear of husbands who tile and paint and enjoy those tasks, why can't I have one of those!?

So basically it's been a mess, and to top it off last week I was trying to clean out the drain because the water was backing up and the black unclogger got stuck in the drain. Erik tried pulling it out and pulled the sink up out of the counter. So now we need a new sink/counter to add to the list. And it's football season so I'm looking at like 3 more months of my bathroom looking like this, FML:

See the black thing coming out of the sink.

However, he did finally mount our tv to the wall, it only took him 6 months. And I painted our little tv stand which turned out cute.

Before:

Island Park

This weekend we went to Island Park, ID with my mom and siblings for a little getaway. It was nice to leave home and spend time with my familiy. Erik has started his football season and doesn't get home until late, late during the week and even on weekends he's so pre-occupied with drawing up plays and meetings that it doesn't feel like he's home. We stayed at a friends cabin and just relaxed.

Saturday evening I took Kire with me to Robin Hood, a little play at Mack's Inn. It was totally cheesy, but it was fun and I laughed out loud.

Here's me with my mom and sisters Amy & Julia

On Sunday we drove to Yellowstone. It was windy and both of the boys fell asleep so we just drove around (I think Old Faithful's over-rated anyways). Then we went swimming at the lodge, had a nice dinner and watched Date Night.

It was a short trip and a long drive but I know that if we would have been home we would have just cleaned, so I'm glad we went so we could spend some time together; the boys LOVE spending time with grandma Melanie and their aunts and uncles.

BTW The Northridge Football team is 3-0 so far this season! THe boys love going to games and rolling down the grass field.

Mockingjay

Spoiler alert. Don't read this if you haven't finished the book!

I finished Mockingjay last night. I enjoyed it, but I guess I was just expecting more.

I was nervous picking it up because I didn't think that it could end well for both Peeta and Gale. I thought for sure Peeta was going to save Katniss and be killed somehow. A friend of mine said she sobbed in the book, but I didn't. The only time I almost did was when Finnick died, he was just gone so quickly and that made me sad. She didn't really have to kill him off. I thought the ending was appropriate and I liked how Gale was just sort of phased out, so he wasn't left heart broken, because I was really liking him in book 2. I wish Katniss would have been nicer to Peeta, she doesn't deserve him, and I could have used more romance.

Discussions appreciated-leave a comment.

Goodreads

I kept hearing things about The Girl WIth The Dragon Tattoo and was out of books so I picked this one up. It's suspenseful and entertaining but contains a lot of adult language and content. The series is about a journalist who comes across a story that involves a murder and cover-up. I finished the first book and the second one, The Girl WHo Played With FIre, and now I'm almost done with the 3rd, The Girl Who Kicked THe Hornets NEst. So I'd for sure recommend this series, but just be warned you'll see the f word more than once.

My amazon order for MockingJay arrived on my doorstep on Wednesday! I re-read The Hunger Games & Catching Fire last month in preperation for the 3rd book in the series. I don't know what my deal was but I was crying while reading the second book. I don't know who Katniss is going to choose? Both Gale and Peeta are fabulous and she doesn't deserve them, it's like Twilight all over again, but I just hope this last book ends happily. Don't give anything away if you've already finished it! If you haven't read these, DO it NOW!

Here are some of the other books I've read lately:

The Help- This book has been on my list of books to read for a while, but it didn't sound fun, so I hadn't picked it up. I finally did and really enjoyed it. It's from the point of view of 3 women, in the 1960's I think. 2 of the ladies are black maids and the other is a white woman who is writing a book about them. It was really entertaining, and educational. I bought it for my mom to read, it's a good one.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella- A friend lent me this book, and it was a fun, easy read, but not something I'd read again.

The Art of Racing in the Rain- A friend of mine was reading this and read me an exerpt out of it and it made me laugh so I had to go read it. It is from the point of view of a dog, and it's funny and touching, and very clever. The dogs owner is a race car driver, hence the name of the book, and it talks a lot of racing, which I'm not interested in, so that was the only thing I didn't like. SO this was a fun book that I would have never picked up if I hadn't heard about it, and I'm glad I did.

Park city half marathon!

In April my friend Lindsey convinced me and our other friend Alicia to sign up for a half marathon. I have never been a runner, the longest I've ever run is about 3 miles, and that was before Jack was born. But I've been trying to get in shape and I thought that signing up would get me motivated to continue to work out through the summer. I've enjoyed running, especially because I have a couple of friends who make good company, but I dreaded my long runs. 3-4 miles is nice, but any longer is pretty miserable. The longest I've run up until today was 9 miles.

I felt good for the first 9 miles, but after that I was about done. Most of the course was on a dirt trail, which was really hard on my feet and ankles. I was making pretty good time up until then. I thought I'd finish under 2 1/2 hours, but then I had to walk most of the last 3 miles. I got to the 13 mile mark and was like, WTF-why aren't I done? I guess a half is 13.2 miles, so I sprinted the rest of the way across the finish line. I finished in 2 hrs 45 mins, which isn't great but it was under my 3 hour goal.

I think I'd do another one eventually, but the training is time consuming. I'd rather switch up my workouts so I'm not just running 4x a week, Erik & I are going to start P90x.

I'm proud of my accomplishment, not everyone can say they've run 13 miles. I just wish the running took care of my muffin top : )

Davis county fair 2010

Today I took the boys to the davis county fair. This year they had some tigers and a baby kangaroo along with the usual farm animals. My sister, Amy, met us there and wanted to play with the baby tigers. Normally I don't splurge on the extras, but how often do you really get a chance to pet 4 week old tigers? Both of the boys were a little hesitant but Kire really enjoyed it. So did I.

Jack LOVES animals. He gets soo excited when he sees a dog or anything, but he usually doesn't like to get too close to them.
Jack is fearless. He climbed right up the slide like a monkey and rolled down over and over again until I had to pry him away.
Kire is so smart and curious. I had to tell him the names of all of the species of chickens, roosters, bunnies and goats. He could have spent all day watching the chickens.

South Weber Days 2010

I love our little town. It's right off of the highway so we're close to everything, but we have a small, safe community. This week was our South Weber Days.
Kire was the king in the baby contest 2 years in a row and this year Jack followed in his footsteps. I wasn't going to put Jack in the contest because I was supposed to work, but we had some cancelations so I didn't have to go in. The theme was "hippy" and I had about an hour to put an outfit together. Me and the boys made tie die shirts a few months ago so I had that, and I already had this cool peace sign material and some faux leather. I cut an old pair of jeans and added the peace sign material to make them into bell-bottoms and made a faux leather vest. Jack was decked out with a mohawk and bandana and was a star on the cat walk. He shrieked when he had to get off of the stage. He won me a cute diaper bag filled with diapers and wipes, and he was supposed to be on a float in the parade, but it was during nap-time so we missed out on that.

This morning I ran the 10K with some friends. We met at 6 and ate. I usually don't eat before running, so I don't know if it was the food or that I'm on my period, but I was sick. I fell behind my group by a couple of minutes. At mile 6 I was DYING and started to walk and my sweet friend Regina came and ran with me through the finish line. My goal was 65 minutes and I finished last out of my friends in 67 minutes, but at least I wasn't the VERY last person to finish the race.

The race ran right by our house so the boys were out front cheering me on.

Brittani, Jen, Kim, Lisa & me after the race.

I'm just glad flow will be gone in 2 weeks for the half. And I'm going to have to do a few test runs and figure out what food doesn't make me sick before then.

SYTYCD - Kent & Neil - How It Ends (HQ)

I LOVE SYTYCD and I'm not usually a very emotional person, but this dance made me cry. It's so beautiful.

Bear Lake

We just returned from Bear Lake, the last of our summer vacations. We rented a cabin with Erik's parents and siblings with all our kids and spent 3 days together. It was the first time we'd done it, but I hope it will be a yearly tradition.

We went to Minnetonka cave and hiked the 900 stairs. Kire did awesome and walked the whole way himself.

Erik's brother Bryant, Teresa, Bry & Sam and Erik's sister Jenny & Sophie

Then we spent a day at the beach where the kids made a river and had water gun fights.

Kire & Tyler

The rest of our time was spent playing ping-pong, horse, games and eating of course.

How is it that I can work my butt off for a month and lose 2 pounds, then gain 4 in one weekend?

So now the football season has officially began and I will not see much of Erik until November, but we had a busy, fun summer together. I still haven't found another job, but haven't been trying because we've been gone so much during the last 2 months. So if you hear of a hygiene position still think of me.

Camp Beaver

Erik has a huge family and every other year we get together with its 200 + members for a couple days of fun and games. We usually go up to south fork to camp beaver & camp, but this year we cut it short and stayed closer to home for a couple of days.

The festivities begin with a running of the torch. Everyone takes turns and walks/runs a lit torch from his grandparents grave to a park in West Weber. Here's Kire with aunt Jenny and some cousins.
Kire, with a bloody nose and "light saber" he made, Erik, Jack & Skye in front of our family flag which we marched through our family.
Erik pulling Kire on a sled during one of the olympic games. Other games included running races, tug of war, piggy back rides and more relay races.
Jack lounging

It was so fun to see everyone and get to know people and see their real personalities by doing these crazy games. Thanks to everyone who put it together!

family vacation

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Family Pictures

We had family pictures taken a couple of months ago and they are up for viewing. My neighbor friend does them, she did Jack's a few months ago and we scheduled an appointment for our family. We went out to Antelope Island, a sandy, buggy place in the great salt lake, but the lighting was beautiful.

So, I am uncomfortable with my body, but my face is generally pretty photogenic. Erik's body is fine, but he is the least photogenic person I know. He can never smile on cue, and in these photos he's pasty white. Kire was ornery and Jack wouldn't look at the camera. But despite all of this I think I can find 1 group picture and 1 of each of the boys for some sort of wall arrangement.

I would love your opinion, so go to her website it's The Jealous Turtle Photography, click on clients and the password is our last name.

So far I like 1005, 1006, 1011, 1013, 1017, 1032, 1045, 1050, 1060, 1065, 1088, 1093 for enlargements. What should I do on the wall. I was thinking 3 12x12 in a line on the wall?

Favorite tv shows of the season

This season I discovered a few new shows, and enjoyed my old favorites.

Vampire Diaries:

I know I'm 27 & not 16, but tell me you don't want to watch this? I love the Salvatore brothers. Thursdays CW.

Parks & Recreation:
At first I didn't like this show, but the characters have grown on me. I love Ron, his shot gun cell phone ring on the last episode made me die, that and his solution to save the city money by selling the zoo animals. Thursday nBc.

Modern Family:

This show is about 1 family. My favorite character is Phil. I can't say enough about this show, just watch it. Wednesdays ABC.

30 ROck:

I slacked on my recap of the last few episodes. I love Wesley Snipes character and Matt Damon is such a great comedic actor, so I hope he'll be in next season. Here's a few of my favorite quotes from this season:

Jack: "I'm developing a daytime talk show with Sully Sullenberger."

Carol (Matt Damon): "Ya I met that guy, he's not that great. You know what a great pilot would have done, not hit birds. That's what I do every day, not hit birds, where's my ticket to the Grammy's?"

Drew: "What, you're too good for me now that I have pirate hook hands?"

Liz: "It's not about the hooks, it's how you got that way, you're just too dumb."

Liz's ex, bubble boy, now has hooks for hands. One was cut off when he raised his hand while on a helicopter and the other by fireworks.

Pete: "Will you call twofer and talk some sense into him?"

Tracy: "Oh ya, ask the black guy cause we all know each other. Pete could you tell a bald eagle to stop scaring me, at zoos?!"

Jack: "Do you ever regret having children?"

Tracy: "Everyday. I have this strip club story from this weekend I need to tell you Jackie D it is disgusting. But I can't cause I got this little d-bag here."

Tracy Jr: "I know what that means."

Tracy: "And yet you won't tell me."

24:

We watched the series from the beginning and loved it. If you are bored, rent the first couple and watch them.

Others we enjoy: Friday night lights (on now Fridays NBC, Riggins is my boyfriend), The Good Wife, Criminal Minds, GLEE, House, I watch Greys Anatomy still (even though it's ridiculous and I hate it), and we still watch The Office (but that ones lost it for me too).

Any recommendations?

steamboat springs road trip.

1 of my best friends from college, Alicia, lives just outside of steamboat springs, CO in a Podunk town called Kremling. Luckily I was laid off a couple weeks ago, haha, and was able to take a trip with some friends and go visit her this week. I wasn't quite sick of my kids yet, since Erik & I left them just a month ago, but it was still a nice break.

Steamboat is a cute little ski town, like park city. It was BEAUTIFUL. I don't think I'd ever been to Colorado before. We drove there on Sunday, and relaxed in our condo & hot tub.

Monday we woke up and went hiking up to a waterfall.

Tuesday we went for a 6 mile run along a river trail then spent the day at the pool. We didn't realize how white we were, and spent a little too much time in the sun.

And in the evenings we went shopping down town and ate...a lot.

Scarlett, double chin, Lindsey, Alicia

At the top of the mountain

Alicia's flat butt was always hanging out so I couldn't resist talking this on our ride home

-I was able to expose them to some 30 Rock, which I'm sure they'll be eternally grateful for.

-Also, thanks to Scarlett, we were hit on more than once. Too bad they were toothless, redneck construction workers on most occasions.

kids + zoo = pet

Kire has been asking for a pet for awhile, so we took the boys to the zoo this week to expose them to some animals, so we wouldn't have to buy one.

They had a great time at the zoo, but Kire still wanted a pet of his own.
2 years ago we got Kire a bunny, Bink. Unfortunatly he was exposed to a little too much sun and died. Then last year our dog, Kuma, ran out into the road and killed himself. We've also had some fish and frogs that haven't lasted very long.

We've been telling him that we will get another pet when Jack gets older. I wouldn't mind getting another dog, but I'd like to wait until we're done having kids because I don't like them around babies.

I started looking on ksl, classified ads, and showed a few different animals to Kire. He wanted another bunny, and since we already had a cage & food, I decided why not? (he said when the bunny dies he wants a goat, and when the goat dies he wants a dog)

He wanted to name her fluffy, I talked him into FUz instead, it sounds a little cooler.

She's a baby lionhead, and the boys adore it. Kire even follows it around and picks up the poo.

Pinata

Jack is wild. I was doing the dishes a couple of days ago when I heard screaming from the other room. Jack had grabbed 2 steak knives out of the dishwasher when I wasn't looking and headed down the hall to Kire and stabbed him. Luckily he didn't poke him with the sharp end.

His new mohawk fits him perfectly

He gets into everything and wants to do whatever Kire is doing.

They've been wrestling lately and Kire calls Jack "pinata", because he wants to "break" him.

And the winner....Friday

Erik remembered on Friday. We didn't make plans to do anything because I had to work Saturday and he had a football tournament, but he surprised me by getting home early with flowers (from a florist, not walmart). AND he arranged a babysitter for the boys. We went to Sonora grill in Ogden and to Farrs for some pistachio ice cream. We'd both had a long day, so we headed home after that, but it was a great night.

In other good news, I am substituting at an office tomorrow. My friend called me to sub in the office she works at, which is 5 minutes from my house. And they may be in need of a hygienist in the near future so it's a good job possibility. But still keep me in mind if you hear of anything or need a sub, thanks.

Also, I ran 6 miles this morning and didn't die. My half marathon training is going better than expected.

Poll: Will Erik remember our anniversary

Sunday is our 7th anniversary.

In the past we've usually made some plans by now, but neither of us have mentioned it yet, and I'm wondering if he will remember. I set up a poll to the right, please vote. I'm hoping he won't see this blog for a few days, because I'm curious if he'll remember.

We just went to Florida last month, so that was kind of our anniversary get away, but usually we at least go out to dinner.

Erik is a wonderful, kind man and husband, but he's like most men and not very thoughtful when it comes to gift giving or planning.

I tell him not to get me flowers for special occasions, unless they're from walmart, because I would so much rather have clothes or shoes than $50 worth of flowers that will die in 4 days.

I have been eyeing those hand stamped necklaces, I think I may order myself one.

I love boys

Boys are funny.

Yesterday Kire came into my room naked and said, "mom look, I caught a ball."

My response, "Ok buddy, just don't squeeze too hard, now go wash your hands."

And Jack's nickname is "turtle wiener." I'm a mean mom. But his wiener is always tucked in like a turtle head, like he's cold all the time.

I love my boys. They are so funny and so wonderful. They make me laugh all day long. Jack is a wild little guy and so funny. We always call him simple minded because all he wants to do is throw balls (which Kire never does). The only thing he ever says is dada, ball, and baba-for bottle. Once in a while he'll say mama, but he's definitely a daddy's boy. And Kire is so smart. He just finished his first year of preschool and he has learned so much. He knows all his letters and can write them well. He loves to learn. He is really good with Jack too. Jack follows him everywhere and tries to do whatever Kire does. They are going to be quite the pair.

St. George Tri

Two years ago my brother in law Brad was training to do this triathlon and was killed in a plane accident the week before the race. Now it has become a yearly tradition for our family. Erik did it last year, and this year my SIL Jen invited me to do a relay with her. She did the swim, our friend Amy did the bike, and I did the run.

Our relay was the last heat to go out, Jen started the swim at about 10 and I didn't start running until about 11:30, so it was HOT. I had been drinking all morning, trying to stay hydrated, and went pee right before the run, but my bladder isn't so great since having kids. And me, being a dumb A, wore blue shorts, instead of forgiving black ones. So over the course of 3 miles some pee leaked out. Luckily I passed a water station before the finish line and I dumped cups of water over me so it looked like sweat. My goal was to finish in 35 min and I did it in 33, so I was proud, even if I did pee my pants.

Now my friend Lindsey talked me into a half marathon in August, so I have something to keep me motivated to exercise.

Update

I had mentioned a couple of weeks ago that our neighbors may be moving and we might try to buy their house. Well, they didn't get the job transfer that they applied for so they are staying around for a little while longer. This is good and bad. We love these neighbors and are excited they'll be around, and this gives us more time to get our house ready so if they do move in a year or so we'll be ready. But we were excited at the thought of a new, bigger house of course.

This got me cleaning and getting rid of stuff so that was good. This weekend we had a garage sale and took a load of stuff to DI. Now I just need to talk Erik into new carpet and my house will FEEL new.

Jack was sick while we were on vacation and started feeling better for a few days then got a fever again on Friday. I took him to the doctor (his second visit in a week) and he had ear infections in both ears. Poor guy. Then Saturday I started feeling sick and was in bed until Monday. I'm starting to get over it, but now Erik has it. So we just can't get well over here. I wouldn't mind being sick so much, but this weekend I'm supposed to run a race.

Last year Erik and some of his family did a st. george triathlon in honor of our brother-in-law Brad. This year I'm doing a relay with his SIL Jen and a friend. I'm doing the run, a 5K. Now a 5K probably isn't a big deal to most people, but I'm not a big runner so I've been training for it. But I haven't been able to run all week so I hope I'll get a good run in tonight and feel good by Saturday. My body won't be used to that 90 degree heat, so I hope I don't die.

Florida

Erik & I have never taken a trip together without the kids so last week we took off to Florida. We spent 2 days in Orlando and visited Universal Studios and did a zip-lining safari.

I wanted to go to universal because I've heard it's more for adults and we both like roller coasters. We were lucky to go on a day when we didn't have to wait in lines. It was a Thursday and we could run right up to the front of most of the lines and go on the rides as much as we wanted. The new Islands of Adventure was awesome.

This is us on the new spider man ride

Then Friday I made reservations at an ecological reserve for us to do some zip-lining. It was so fun, something different than neither of us had done before. It was about 4 hours long and we drove through swampland and saw alligators and did a series of 7 zip-lines.


Then we drove to Daytona Beach and stayed in a beautiful resort on the beach for 3 days. There really isn't much to do in Daytona, so if we hadn't been in this resort it wouldn't have been as fun. We were right on the beach and next to a movie theater (I took Erik to see Date Night) and a bunch of restaurants. On Saturday we both got fried, so on Sunday we took a scenic drive up the coast, to avoid the sun, and went to a little town called St. Augustine.

This picture doesn't do him justice, he was red as a lobster. And I got pinched by a crab in the ocean and was afraid to go back in.

St. Augustine is the oldest town in the US and it was fun to walk through and see the old architecture.

It was great to get away, but we missed our boys too so we were glad to be back. Poor Jack was sick while we were gone and they had some miserable snowy, rainy weather so our parents stayed pretty busy with the boys. But they were awesome and we appreciate it so much!

If you go there, make sure you have lots of change for toll roads. After we left the airport we hit 2 toll roads before we got to our hotel. We rounded up all of our change and passed the first one, but then at the second toll we had 4 cents left. They don't take credit cards and the lady just took our 4 cents and let us pass, but we felt like idiots.