Eat, Pray, Love

I used to have a hard time getting into things that were overly popular... it made me feel like a follower. A sheep. A lemming.
Even if it was something I would have really enjoyed. So stubborn.
Then I read Harry Potter. And Twilight. And now I have no problem picking up a best-seller and gobbling it up.
So of course I bought a copy of Eat, Pray, Love!
And thought it was lame. Maybe a 6.
The I rented the movie because I was sure that 3.4 million people couldn't be wrong! Boo. They were.

It wasn't a complete loss; there were two points of the book that I am keeping in my back pocket:

Regard everyone you meet as a teacher.
(When a person comes into your life, they are there for a reason. What is that reason...)

Flexibility is as important to divinity as devotion.
(We have to be able to fill all the different roles we are given. Become something new. Reinvent. Repent.)



Skip the movie because the only thing I found I'd like to keep in my back pocket is Javier Bardem. ; )

The pirate's demise...

Gage drew this at school and brought it home to show me. Do you think I should be worried?

Happy birthday to TONY!!

Happy birthday!! 32 really great years.

(Too bad we're not 20 anymore, though. Bummer.)

Hiking with the kids in Jackson.Symphony in Deer Valley. (The truth: Eating junk food in Deer Valley.)

May we have many more wonderful, silly, playful, happy years together!

I love you!

(P.S. Don't be too mad!)

I've been sayin' I would for like, forever...

So this is a picture of Krew and one of his sweet little cousins, Addison, on the day after she was born. He was born in August, she was born the following February.

He looks like he could roll over and eat her!
Can't wait for these two to get together at Christmas time- hopefully by then she can hold her own because now he has teeth!

He's 7 now... but I can't bring myself to tell him!

This one is more for me than for you guys. Sorry. But Gage says some dang funny things. Things that he is too old to say, but I can't stop him because I want him to stay little a little longer:

"Vajamas." Says it every night; Makes me smile every time. Borderline indecent.


"I can't wait for the firecrackers to kasplode!" Explode. FYI. He also says "Kestroyed."


"I wish those planes would stop flying so low... they are costracting me!" Gage to Tony as he was playing soccer and NOT focusing.


"From now on, I only do money jobs!" Me asking Gage to pick up his clothes and put them in the hamper. I made the mistake of paying him a nickel to pick up all the toys in yard.


"Mom, you had better wash his face. I think he feels embarrassed." Gage to me after I had carefully applied white halloween make-up to Krew's entire face.

Background on this- I had just spent 25 minutes doing Darth Vader's face on Gage's even though he was going to be wearing a mask. (You know, white with dark circles, heavy wrinkles, the works. He looked in the mirror and said HE was embarrassed and made me wash it off.)

Marker. He JUST figured this one out. He has two family members with the name Mark. He has called them Uncle Marker and Grandpa Marker since he could talk. My Dad set him straight and I was ever so sad.

Jossy has a few good ones too:

"Please help us be healthy and survive till we are grown-ups." Jossy's prayer last night. Amen, sister.


"Mom, I never watch the kissing parts on shows." We're talking Cinderella and Belle here, people.

"Mom, did you know that Chuck-E-Cheese is the place where a kid can be a kid? Unless it's their birthday and then they get to be a star!" Jocelyn.



Me telling the kids that their Daddy's birthday was coming up right after theirs.
"How old do you guys think I'm going to be?" Tony asks.
I whisper 49 into Jossy's ear.
"49!"
Tony does his fake shocked "What!?!"
Gage says "Okay, 48 then."

"Would you guys rather go to Disneyland or Chuck-E-Cheese's?"
Jossy and Gage yell: "Chuck-E-Cheese!"
Poor, deprived kids.

Lauren's comments always leave me speechless:

"Mom, why does that man have girl hair?" Really loudly to a guy wearing leather chaps and a fringed vest. Brass knuckles at the ready in his leather fanny pack. Pretty sure his Harley was parked outside.

"MOM! Her's FAT!" Screaming. In Walmart. Beyond mortifying.

"Mommy, how old will I be when my boobies hang down on my chest?" Truth spoken from the mouths of babes. Lucky for ME, this one was in the car on the way to church, not actually at the church. Phew!

Life's like an hourglass glued to the table...

My biggest babies are having their birthdays this week. I CANNOT believe Gage will be 7. And Jossy will be 6! It breaks my heart a little because time is going so fast! Gage was just a baby...Then a toddler.

Then before we knew it, there were two!

It wasn't that much later we bought this beast!And we got our little Polly Lolly. Gage was 2 and a half.

This is Gage and Lauren. She was such a tiny little thing!.

We were quite the circus! This is when they 1, 2, and 3.

Gage's kindergarten graduation!

Jocelyn's preschool graduation. She is awesome at remembering the actions...

The girls tormenting #4; who is a complex combo of Gage and Joss.Now they're all so big. I can hardly stand it.

But Jossy will always be a wonderful, special, sweet girl. Lauren couldn't wish for a better sister. And Gage can't wait for the day when he can play catch with his baby brother. (I've been getting this pouty face a lot lately.) It is such a funny thing; I wish they could be my little sweethearts forever. But I am so proud of how they are growing and learning. I love them so much.
So a happy, happy birthday to Gage on the 12th and Jossy on the 17th!

An unexpectedly nice day...

When Tony said Friday night that he was getting up to leave for Idaho at 3 a.m. to go hunting, and that he would TRY to make it home for Halloween night, I was a little disappointed. Of course I wanted him to be with us for Trick-or-Treating!

My dad said he would help me, but still, it wasn't the same. The forecast was rain, and I was wondering how in the world I was going to get all 4 kids down the street in any manner of funness. (Nope. Not a real word.)

So we did laundry in the morning, made some treats, colored some pictures, hung out and watched some Ichabod, and then started costuming up! I was feeling good; Checked a few things off my list, the kids had been pretty happy with my minimal planned activities... Then Tony showed up about 4:30 with this poor guy! And then we could get to the real fun! Have you ever seen a cuter, more big boned skeleton?

I know- me neither! Can you see the little treats on the tummy? Accuracy is key...
All my cuties. Lauren is a musketeer, Jossy is a witch, Gage is Darth Vader, and Krew is adorable!
(I was a butterfly, and Tony was a hunter with authentic deer-musk smell.)
We were super lucky in our timing- the rain stopped, we ran down the streets in our ward and got some tasty treats, and the rain started back up when we were at the second to last house. The kids had a great time. We came home and my dad grilled up some hamburgers and hot dogs, we dug into the candy, and watched Harry Potter.
I was expecting the day to be less than ideal, but it couldn't have been more lovely. Tony got his deer, the kids had a good time, I got some laundry done, we ate a lot and nobody cried too much.
Just another day to remind me how wonderfully and completely lucky I am.

So Happy BOO to YOU!

For all you crafty crafters out there...

So there's this adorable little website I must tell you about:

http://www.thelittlefabricshop.com/

Cutest stuff you ever saw! And I know the gal who is the boss at said website, and somehow that makes me feel just a little bit famous!

I want to buy this whole collection and do a girl's playroom. Which is too bad, since I do not have a playroom for either gender. Here's to hoping!

Side note: Just read a series called "Ember" by Jean DePrau (sp?). I would give them a 7.9- again something geared toward teens, so of course I read it. Her books are not written in chronological order, which I thought was a little confusing. Their order was: 2, 3, 1, 4. Maybe just read "Prophet of Yonwood" either first or last. Not third. There is also a movie of "Ember" which much to producer Tom Hanks' chagrin is admittedly poo.

No, no. He's a boy. That's why he's in blue.

We were having a case of serious girly hair. But it honestly made my heart ache to cut it. I keep thinking he might be my last baby, and I want him to stay little as long as possible. Plus, when I would touch the back of his head it felt like a little lamby-bum! In this picture I had just combed it out- it is so curly, I didn't really know where to start. I thought if it was a little straighter it would be easier, but this is as straight as it gets.

Got the back all trimmed.I took off over an inch all over his head.

And he knows that he is one handsome little devil.
Please note his hilarious Goofy teeth. It has taken him 14 months to get them! He has one on the bottom and two HUGE teeth coming in on the top! They are almost the same size as my teeth. Gage had the same thing. He did grow into them so they don't look so strange now. I'm assuming the same thing will happen to Krew.

I kinda like to look at it too...

I had a few requests to reopen my "house for sale" blog. I had it set to private now that the house has sold, but I'm going to open it up for a little longer. I will probably take it down eventually. I'll put it on the to-do list. ; )

www.rexburghouse4sale.blogspot.com

"I have pumpkin skids on my hand!" -Jocelyn

Isn't this a cute picture of the kids with their jack-o-lanterns? Oh, you can't see them? They're standing right behind their pumpkins... Gage did two-face. Very clever.
The Jossy-lantern!
I came up with that all my own.
You can't see it, but it has a bow and lovely hair.


And Lauren's needs a better candle.
Joss thought Tony's interpretation of pumpkin hair was sub-par. "It just looks like grandpa Jenks."

Many a pumpkin has been carved in this kitchen.

And I'm starting the Ouch-of-the-Month club. Lauren is president.

Look how nicely her golf club hole is healing!

Which is good, 'cause now she has room for a goose egg. You can't really tell, but she also has a black eye. Goose egg is from jumping off Gage's bed onto the trundle. She missed. Black eye is from trying to balance on the headboard and falling, smashing her cheek on the desk.

I moved her upstairs to David's old room. There is no furniture. Just a mattress. Hopefully there she will be safe(ish).

Lookey there... I got a bite!

Tony and I took the kids fishing for the first time on Saturday. We went to a little bend in the river, completely secluded, and so beautiful. Tony even busted out his waders and fly rod.I got stuck on the bank with this mess maker. And these ones...

Notice they are all wearing their rain boots... I guess they thought they looked like waders?

Contrary to the title, we did not, in fact, get any bites. From fish, anyway.
We also had MHS Mini-Cheer on Friday night. We had a great time at the game, but I have to say it was a madhouse!! I was shocked at how many of the parents just dropped their kids off with the freshman cheerleaders at the beginning of the game and then left to go watch!! There were over a hundred girls, and there were 4 babysitters. I let them sit in the bleachers and then stood near the fence where I could see them but they couldn't really see me. True helicopter-mom style. It was a good thing, too. Lauren tried to wander off about six times to go play and no one even noticed she left. (They did have a couple of little girls get lost. They were found in the bathroom and concessions.)

Still, I think we'll do it again next year. Jossy LOVED it! Lauren tolerated it.