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It's Been A Long Time....

I can't believe it has almost been a year since my last post. How time flies when your just living life one day at a time. Today I am home with two sick kids and babysitting my niece. Yes, since it is my day off, I should be cleaning my house, but, I have to admit that I kind of miss the blogging world. Since I have not been blogging myself, I have stopped reading everyone else's blogs too. I feel that I am somehow more disconnected from the events in my friends lives. So, today I will not scrub my bathroom floors or wipe the finger prints and toothpaste from the mirrors. I will blog!

The new year started off just as any. Cold dreary and yuck. I hate January. Emma had her tonsils out and tubes put in her ears. She has done so well since having her tonsils out. I am so glad we decided to have that done.






Little Zoe decided to take up Jr. Jazz with her best friend, Heather. They had so much fun together. Zoe couldn't wait to sign up for it again this year. We just turned in her registration papers last week and I am already sick of her asking, "When is basketball going to start." i think it is so cute that she loves dance so much and can love basketball so much too.





February was great. Evie called me up one day at work and said "Do you want to go to San Diego?" A few hours later we were on a plane to Sunny San Diego!! We were there for four days. It was a great spur of the moment trip. I loved every moment of it. For some reason I have no pictures of that trip.

March is always great. Zoe and Sophie both have birthday's in March. It is starting to look more like spring, and this year we decided to put our house up for sale in March! We knew it may take a while to sell, but, it was time. We had out grown our little house years ago, and we were tired of living on top of one another. We were reluctant for one reason, our fantastic neighbors, The Taylor's!! They were the best neighbors that anybody could ever ask for, and we did not want to leave them. They have been there for us for years. How would we ever get along without them?

Our house was only on the market for 1 month before we sold it to a nice couple with one little girl. This house will give them plenty of room to grow, and now they will have the chance to have the best neighbors in the world!

April gave us Easter. I love Easter. I think mostly because I get to buy the girls all new spring dresses. April was also such a busy month. Not only was I busy packing up my house, but also packing up my office. My work office was finally finished and ready to be moved in to. Moving a medical practice is quite a job, but, I have the best staff in the world, and we did it in ONE day!! Girls rule!

May/June was just as crazy. We moved out of our house and into Eve and Kevin's 5th wheel that is parked on the side of their house. This was meant to be a 5 day arrangement, but, ended up being a 24 day arrangement! It took a lot longer to close on our house than it was supposed too. We are so thankful to have such good friends to let us mooch off of them for so long. I am happy to say that they still like us. I don't have any pictures of my new house yet. I will take some soon.

July was the same as always. My birthday followed by Tony's birthday, followed by his mom's birthday. I remember eating hot dogs on the 24th of July. We went to Lava with our friends Justin and Julie. That was fun, I had never been there before. Maybe this was the starting of a new tradition.

My kids started their new school at the end of July. They only got a 3 week summer. Zoe started 5th grade, Sophie 2nd grade and Connor and Emma started kindergarten. Sophie is the only one who is still having a hard time adjusting. She wants to go back to her old school.

August was memorable because my beautiful baby niece, Taylyn, was born on the 14th. She weighed 6lbs and 3 ounces. And was 18 inches long. I love her so much. I get to babysit her every Wednesday. She is better than having my own little baby. When I am done snuggling and spoiling her all day, I send her home with her mommy.

September- Pearl Jam!

October-Steven finally got married...more to come on that.

What a crazy year! Why does time have to go by so fast? And now it is already November again. Wow.

Merry Christmas

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Christmas 2008

Every year we spend Christmas Eve at my mom's house with my brother Steven and his fiance' Amy. Amy has spent many Christmas Eve's with us, and this year she had to work late, and was not with us. It just didn't seem the same. We all missed her very much, and hope that she does not have to work again EVER on Christmas Eve!

We start the evening out with a traditional turkey dinner, complete with all of the trimmings. This year, the turkey was a not as good as usual, it was all pink on one side, my mom was a little upset I think, but I didn't care, I don't like turkey anyway. My favorite part of the meal is yams. Yum! Yum!

After dinner, we all gather around her Christmas tree and exchange gifts. This year was a lot of fun because the kids were so excited to open each present. They would scream and yell with excitement. Their enthusiasm was contagious. Pretty soon, we were all screaming and yelling when we opened a gift. After gifts, and eating pie, we all relaxed and watched A Christmas Story. I love that show. When that was over we had to rush home. It was time to get everyone in bed. Tony and I had a lot of wrapping to do.

The next morning, Tony and I got up at 6:00 to find 4 little kids waiting patiently in Zoe's room. They were all trying so hard to be quiet. We had told them they could get up at 7:30, but we figured since everyone was awake, we might as well get up.

The kids were so patient and thankful for every gift. It was fun to watch them. Later Sandie, Candy, Paige and Candy's new boyfriend, Jeff came over for breakfast and more presents. We had such a good day. It makes me sad that Christmas came and went so quickly. I love this time of year, and wish it would last longer.

Fall 2008-In Pictures

So, as you may have noticed that while I was on my blogging hiatus I missed a few note-worthy holidays. I would not feel good about myself, and I am sure that my kids would be very sad if I did not post pictures from said holidays. Please enjoy this photo montage of Halloween and Thanksgiving.

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What a Bunch of Suckers!

Do you remember all of those fun Christmas activities that you grew up doing as a child? Dipping chocolates? Making gingerbread houses? Stringing popcorn for the tree?
Well, Eve and I both have fond memories of painting candy molds. Me with my aunt and cousins, and her with her mom. We both thought it would be such a fun Christmas activity to do this with our kiddies. One day last week we ventured out with our brood, and spent a combined $60.00 for this festive event. Yes, that is a lot of money, but who can put a price on memories? Right? We were full of anticipation and hope that we would be building lasting memories for our children. We were for sure going to be the best mommies in their eyes, if only for a little while. Possibly, this would be a Christmas tradition in the making, to pass down to their children as well.



Wow, were we delusional....



First off, this little endeavor took a lot more effort than I remember. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get 5 and 6 year olds to paint little drips of colored chocolate into a plastic mold with a paint brush is? Secondly, Emma had everyone in a tizzy because she kept mixing her colors together causing a nice shade of poop brown. She ended up using her own paint tray. That brings me to the next problem. Those little paint trays we bought only hold one candy "chip" at a time, making it impossible to paint more than two or three strokes without needing more. So, Eve had a brilliant idea. She just put a ton of colored candy in a big bowel and microwaved it all together. That took FOREVER. Those little things don't melt very quickly. The troops were getting restless. They all started yelling different things; "I need brown!" "No, I need pink, first" Connor was usually always saying, "What's taking so long?"



Some of of candy suckers used the standard white stick, others used cool big pretzel sticks. The only problem was that it was impossible to keep the pretzels in the candy mold covered with chocolate long enough for them to dry. Hayden came of with a very clever idea of staking odds and end underneath his pretzel sticks to hold them in place.



After about 45 minutes of this, I started to wonder if we were doing something wrong. It just didn't seem to be going as smoothly as I remembered as a child. I remember kicking out mold after mold full of delightfully colored chocolates, and we were almost an hour into this and still had not produced one single sucker. Hmmmmmmm. What to do?? I decided to look at the instructions we had so freely thrown away. Apparently, we were to supposed to refrigerate those little puppies once they were full of chocolate. Well, that wasn't going to work, so we put them outside.



Now we were left with a terrible mess. Multicolored caked on chocolate was all over everything. Eve had to use scalding water to clean off the glasses and spoons. It is still stuck in the grooves of her table, I am not sure how she is going to get that out.

After 30 minutes of chilling outside, we decided to bring in the suckers. I have to admit, I did not have high hopes. I expected each little sucker to fall into a million pieces when we took them out of the molds. But much to my surprise, I was wrong. It was a Christmas miracle! Okay, not quite that big, but exciting all the same. The kids were so happy to see their little creations. Emma was so happy with her brown and yellow swirled Cinderella on a stick. Natalie's hearts looked tie-dyed, too cute to eat, and Max made the cutest little airplane and train. Connor had a baseball and football that really turned out well too. Zoe and Sophie's looked like perfect little lollipops. They all turned out so well.

After all of the mess, those little suckers actually turned out. I am so surprised. I wonder if my kids will look back on this experience and think of it as a fun one, or if they will just forget it? Maybe when Eve and I did this as a child it was a horrible, messy event too, but, as we get older we only remember the fun?

Please Don't Forget Me!!

O.K., I know I have left a lot to be desired in the blogging department the past few months. Sorry, life has been a little crazy, (yet, so boring). But, I am happy to report, that I do have a few blog-worthy events to post soon. Maybe after I get a couple hours of sleep, I will do that today. I have been up for about 30 hours now, (I did take a two hour nap around 10:00pm)and I really need some zzz's. Wish me well, I am headed home from work, and on to Target to pick out a birthday cake for Connor and Emma's party tomorrow. I don't know if I can handle another Black Friday shopping mob. Let's hop things have calmed down since outing in the wee hours this morning.

My Friend Ashley

Hello people coming to Ashley's blog hoping to read some of Ashley's warm witted blogging. Instead it is I, Eve, Ashley's friend since middle school. I broke in here secretly to sing praises to my beautiful lovely friend Ashley. I just wanted her to know how much I love and appreciate her. She has been there for me during the hardest time in my life. Always showing love and concern for me. Always taking the time to be there for me. And I know there isn't anything she wouldn't do for me.:)The laughter we have shared has truly been the best medicine a girl could ask for. I thank my father in heaven every night for blessing me with such a true kindred spirit! I LOVE YOU, I hope you know that!!!!!!:) Ok, sorry people who don't know me, but are forced to be reading my ramblings, but you know Ashley, and I am sure you know just what I am talking about since you are blessed to know her as well!

No News Is Good News....Right?

I have been racking my brain for the past week trying to think of what I wanted to blog about next. And I have come up with nothing. Notta. Zip. Ziltch. How is that possible? I look at everyone else's blog's and everyone seems to have lots to talk about. Why not me? I have a busy life, a new position a work,(office manager) my husband is still out of town, and four crazy out of control kids, and I still have nothing to report. Well, except that every weekend that Tony has been gone,(this is the third one in a row for those of you counting) I have had a sick child or two. I thought this would be the weekend to break the cycle, but no, Emma woke up today with a fever, and complaining of a tummy ache. I guess we are a boring family. So, for now, until I find something note worthy to blog about I guess my great taste in music will have to keep you occupied.

Tag

Tag From Eve

I am: Ashley. Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother, Friend
I think: I can, I think I can
I know: That someday I will look back and think that its funny that Emma is a "tornado of destruction"
I want: To hire a maid and a gardener
I have: A sore throat and a headache
I dislike: vegetables from a can
I fear: Getting old, and looking old
I feel: Very tired most of the time.
I hear: Emma singing a song that she just made up
I smell: Not much, I have a poor sense of smell due to bad sinuses
I crave: laughing so hard that your stomach hurts, and it's hard to breathe
I cry: Waaaay to often!
I usually: drink one diet dr. pepper a day
I search: for lost shoes, dinosaurs, library books, favorite blankies, and clean socks everyday
I wonder: What will happen if I don't accept the office manager position I was offered at work
I regret: not finishing school before my kids were born
I love: Buying new shoes and purses. You can never have too many!
I care: too much about what other people think
I always: get up around 4:00 a.m. to pee
I worry: about anything and everything. Hey, I'm a worrier, it's what I do best.
I am not: a very patient person. I need to work on that
I believe: That all things happen for a reason
I sing: really loud in the car. I don't care who sees me.
I don't always: Share my feelings, some things are better left unsaid
I argue: on occasion, but I try to avoid conflict
I write: down everything I need to get done, or else I will forget. My mind is really goin'.
I lose: My keys and debit card on a regular basis
I wish: I could be a kid again
I listen: to my kids talking to each other when they are supposed to be asleep
I can usually be found: on the computer, on the phone, or at work
I am scared: of what I miss out on in my kids' lives when I am at work
I forget: almost everything immediately. I must be getting old
I am happy: When my house, and my kids are all clean at the same time.
I am.......tagging you.

Party Like It's 1972

Have you ever wondered what you would look like if you were born when your parents were? I have. I found a program on someones blog that lets you put in your picture and it gives you different hairstlyles from over the decades. It's very funny. When I saw myself with this hair-do, I had to share. I think that I look just like my mom did in her yearbook! Well, pretty close. Her neck and face were not two different colors in her picture,nor did she have a 5 o'clock shadow, but you get the idea.

Hurricane Ike

So, most of you know that Tony has left us for three weeks, and gone to help with the clean up of Hurricane Ike. Texas has been in need of extra property adjusters to handle all of their claims, so many from other states volunteered. Tony is not a property adjuster anymore, but he does know the job, so he volunteered. I have been feeling very sorry for myself. Feeling like he is the one who always gets to run off on these long vacations and I am stuck here, a single parent for three weeks. Well, I have forgotten all of the fun things I get to do when he is gone. Here is my list, if you think of anything else, let me know.

*I can eat whatever I want in our bed
*We can eat cereal for dinner
*I can stay up as late as I want on the computer
*I can stay up as late as I want watching movies with Eve
*I can sleep in the middle of the bed and use his pillow too
*I can go shopping for as long as I want and he can't make me come home
*No football on T.V. or Saturday U of U games
*No wrestling on T.V.
*No MythBusters on T.V.
*I can go out to lunch and dinner with my friends
*I can work late with Julie on Thursday and he won't care

On the other hand, I do have to do all of the things he usually does around the house,

*Mow the lawn (Hmmmm, Elders quorum?)
*Help Zoe with her homework (yuck)
*Take the trash cans out to the curb
*Drives the girls to all of their friends houses
*Laundry (Yes, he does our laundry)

It has only been 2 days, and I feel like I am losing my mind. It should be better tomorrow, I am going to work. I think we just need a few days to get into the groove of not having daddy around, and hopefully things will start going more smoothly.

Finally...A lost tooth

We had another big event this weekend. Sophie would be mortified if I did not mention that she lost her first tooth. She has been waiting for this moment for at least 2 years. She noticed that it was loose on our vacation to San Diego. Maxton also noticed he had a loose tooth at that time. He has long since lost that tooth and she has been so upset about that. Since she is older than Max, she should have lost her tooth first. Sophie came into my bedroom on Saturday morning and asked me if I would help her wiggle her tooth, this is an almost everyday ritual for us. I noticed it was a little looser, so, I just yanked, and out it came. She was soooo excited. She put it under her pillow and the Tooth Fairy gave her $1.00.

Later that day, Connor came up to me and informed me that the Nail Fairy gives money to little kids that put finger nails under their pillows. This was news to me. I have never heard of the Nail Fairy. I'm thinking that my kids are hard up for money. What do you think?