What I've learned about myself this week...

I'm an emotional eater! *pfft* I've had a super stressful week and I've prolly gained 5 lbs because of it! I've had to work longer hours all week and I have no hope of it getting better tomorrow :( I have a co-worker who has called in sick all week and I'm her only backup. Well, I can't always stay and work late with NO notice! Jason has appointments and Jenalyn has preschool...and we only have one car! On top of that, it's not my regular job so it takes me longer to get the work done...that coupled with the shorter hours and the work is really getting backed up! I feel like I'm just treading water! Like I'm not cuttin' it! I run like crazy while I'm at work and I work as late as I possibly can! By the time I leave I'm exhausted!

It's a good thing my kids make me feel like the most important person in the world when I walk in the door. I love coming home! Squeals, smiles, and open arms coming at me! It will never get old! I will always cherish that - well, at least as long as it lasts! I'm sure one day they'll barely turn their heads from the screen when I walk in the room!

Here's how I found Jenalyn when I got home on Monday. Her position cracked me up - oh to be young and flexible again, eh? And look closely, that's our fat black cat curled up in the crook of her leg :)

I've been wanting to post a picture of Corbin's haircut (I cut it Saturday afternoon) - unfortunately this is the best pic I've gotten of it so far - please excuse the cookie-face!Anyhow, speaking of how loved these kids make me feel...I hadn't realized how much our time together in the morning means to Jenalyn. On Monday she woke up crying at 6 a.m. and she was calling out "Mommy...*sob* mommy..." so I rushed in there and she immediately perked up and said, "Oh, you haven't left for work yet?" She was afraid she had missed me - it's getting lighter earlier and she thought it was later in the morning and that I had already left for work. I thought that was sweet. But I still told her to go back to bed and promised that I would wake her up before I left. I still had 45 mins of sleep left and darned if I was gonna miss out *lol*

Anyhow, I guess this was a rambly post. I just needed to vent about my stressful week - and then count my precious blessings to pick myself back up. Thanks for "listening".

Yeah, I'm a professional typist...

79 words

Speedtest

Although there are a lot of things I'd rather be good at... *shrugs*

Shout out to Peep!

Yes, I'm dedicating this blog to my favorite kid's show: Peep and the Big Wide World.

It's such a pleasant show, so positive and calm! and my kids LOVE IT! If you click on the above link, you'll find a new episode of Peep every day (click on the red "Watch Peep Now"). Sometimes at night Jenalyn says, "I have to go to bed so I can watch a new Peep in the morning." *giggles* it's like Christmas for her...okay, not really, but she looks forward to it every day.

It's narrated by Joan Cusack (love her). Also, a couple weeks ago they had a character with the voice of Megan Mullally. You HAVE to check out their theme song too. It's very catchy. I find myself singing it all the time...and I actually don't get annoyed with it like most other kid's show songs.

Anyhow, I hadn't heard of Peep until Heidi's family told us about it. So I'm passing this long to you, in case you've never heard of it either. WE LOVE YOU PEEP...and Chirp and Quack.

In case anyone thought I was perfect...

Here is a post dedicated to my faults...you guessed it: the Sucky Tag (yes, I'm tagging myself too). I don't like to focus on my imperfections but I might as well get it out in the open so there's no misrepresentation.

1. I'm LATE for everything! I have a horrible sense for time.
2. I'm notorious for saying "okay honey I'm just going to shut down my laptop and I'll be right there." ...then jump in and check for new blogs *lol* (BTW: thanks to LeaAnne for telling me about Google Reader - that makes it a lot easier for me to do this!)
3. I have horrible willpower - I've gained 5 lbs since I started trying to lose weight *hmph*
4. I don't wear makeup because I'm lazy and would rather sleep in an extra 15-20 minutes.
5. When I'm angry I drive like a lunatic.
6. I'm a laundry-loser! I don't sort my kids' clothes - they all go in together. I only sort mine and Jason's by whites and...everything else. But at least they get folded and put away, right?
7. I nap EVERY afternoon when my kids are napping! I feel so very slothful sometimes, but I love to nap! It's a guilty pleasure.
8. I'm obsessed with Ovaltine. Actually, I love chocolate milk, I rationalize my excessive consumption of Ovaltine because of the amount of vitamins it has. (Note: those are two different links for Ovaltine ... just some plugs for my current favorite product.)
9. I love my kids almost to a fault. I think they are the coolest in the world! If someone compliments them I beam. It's almost more than I can handle - I feel like I will explode with pride.
10. I hit snooze at least 3 times every morning before waking up - I actually set my alarm earlier just so I can use the snooze button!
11. I'm horrible at yard work. My yard is in horrible shape because I also married a guy who is horrible at yard work!
12. We spend more money on fast food than I care to admit. (refer to #3, above.)
13. I'm a freak about my kitchen! For example, if anyone else stacks my dishwasher I re-do it as soon as they leave the room - there is a place for everything! Jason is really the worst! Not that I don't appreciate his efforts!
14. I'm a bear if I don't get enough sleep! Seriously, I need my beauty sleep or else I'm a BEAST!
15. I'm a procrastinator! You can bet that I'm planning my YW lesson every Saturday night!
16. I'm shy.
17. I like to warm my cold feet on Jason's legs at night.
18. I snap pictures like crazy. When I upload them to my computer I usually find 50 shots of the same thing! Thank heavens for digital cameras! I could never snap like this with film!
19. I'm terrible at sending Thank You cards! I never even sent Thank You cards after my wedding! The guilt has haunted me for 8 1/2 years! Not that I'm not grateful - just lazy!
20. I shoot for an 11:00 bedtime...but I don't actually go to bed until after midnight most nights. (refer to #10, above.)

There you have it folks...20 reasons why I'm not perfect!

I'm tagging my MoB girls: Ginny, Rachelle, Heidi, Lis, and my sissy: Cheryl.

Can you believe this mess?

When we got back from the temple Friday night our sweet babysitter (BTW, I highly recommend Heather to ANYONE!) had cleaned our kids' bedroom! I was amazed! I made sure the rest of the house was clean before we left so she wouldn't feel like she had to clean my house...but the kids' room always gets neglected!

The next morning I went to the Stake Relief Society workshops and when I came home...that nice picture above is what I found *gasp* That's right, all of Heather's hard work...out the window! :( I wanted to cry! This is what happens when daddy babysits! I told him that if I had been home and heard the chaos in the bedroom I would have let the kids each pick a toy, have them bring it to the living room and then close off the bedroom. But no, he let them have their way with the room....so he got to supervise the cleaning! I should have taken an after picture, because it really looked nice when they were done.

In other news - what we did with the beautiful, sunny Saturday:

After the Stake R.S. thingy we had lunch, then we were totally exhausted because of our late night temple trip and then early morning R.S. meeting. So we took a short nap while the kids napped. Afterwards we all got outside...to do yard work. Jason mowed the lawn while I did some much-needed weeding. We found all kinds of interesting bugs and insects: beetles, ladybugs, ants, spiders, earwigs, and caterpillars. Jenalyn attached herself to one caterpillar. She toted "her" around like she was her new best friend. She was so disappointed that I wouldn't let her bring her in the house. She didn't want to leave her just anywhere so she put her inside a tulip *lol* she also plucked a leaf and slipped that in there, so she wouldn't get hungry.

This morning when we left for church she ran straight to the tulip to see if she was still there and she WAS! She checks on her whenever we're outside. Jason asked her to say the blessing for our lunch today and she said "please bless my caterpillar that she will turn into a butterfly soon." On our way home from church she announced that she's naming her caterpillar "TyMarie." I have no idea where she got that name, but it's actually kinda pretty! Anyhow I got a couple pictures of her with TyMarie this afternoon:

(this one cracks me up - she's such a picture-poser sometimes!)

(I love this one - it looks like she's talking to her.)

Temple Trip

Last night we went to the temple with some people from the ward. We had a GREAT time. It was like a youth temple trip :) We piled into the EQ Pres' Lincoln Navigator - 8 of us (Jen & Tim met us there). It was cozy, but by no means cramped - that's one BIG SUV!

We got to the temple as the sun was setting. The sun hit the temple spires so beautifully! My senses were overloaded - so of course I had to snap a picture! It was incredible, then as we were walking up to the door we were hit with an amazing fragrance. Jeannie and I were sniffing around to see which of the beautiful flowers made that deliciously sweet smell. I love going to the temple. It's so peaceful...and this was all before we even entered the doors. I know we are very lucky to have a temple just 2 hours away - but I really wish we had one closer so we could go more often. It was a great experience!

So after our session at the temple we piled back in the Navigator and drove down the street to ColdStone. It was about 10:20 p.m. and the sign on the door said they closed at 10:00 *hmph* we sat outside for about 10 minutes with our mouths watering, wondering what our other options for ice cream might be. We saw a guy leave with his ice cream and someone noted that meant the doors were unlocked ;) So Jeannie couldn't stand it any longer and she jumped out of the car and went on in. Before long she turned around and gave us all thumbs-up and we piled out and so we all ran in for ice cream. I can only imagine what those poor employees were thinking when we piled out of the Nav like it was a circus car *lol* They were great though and the ice cream was phenomenal, of course!

Oh, and one of the best parts of the night, we were able to complete the work for 10 of my ancestors :)

Sombreros and Harmonicas

Sombreros:
Last Saturday we went to Los Dos Amigos to celebrate "Grandpa John's" birthday. They, of course, put a BIG sombrero on his head and sang really LOUDLY to him. But after that was all over, we passed the hat around so the kids could try it on. The pictures were too cute, I couldn't not share :)
(Grandpa John, Aunt Dale and Gramma Jan)



Harmonicas:
The other day I decided to get out my old harmonica (my mom gave each of us kids a harmonica for Christmas one year....several years ago!). Jenalyn fell in love with it! She seriously loves that thing! She is constantly playing it! Every morning, "Mommy, can I play with your instrument?" (she rarely calls it a "harmondica.") She even took it to preschool today for show and tell (it was a big hit!). So, since she was so interested in this new instrument, I decided to take her to Great-Gramma "Scrabe's" house so she could hear a pro at work! My Grandma is truly amazing on the harmonica! We had so much fun. Jenalyn would make a request (knick-knack-patty-whack), and grandma would hum it to herself or a second, then she'd belt it out on the harmonica! No practice or anything - it was so fun to watch! So of course I snapped a couple pictures and got a short video of them playing together. Gramma told Jenalyn to keep practicing and they could play together more often.

I have a lot of memories from childhood, sitting around listening to grandma play the harmonica, so it was really special to watch my daughter playing with her. When grandma finished playing she would pat the harmonica on her leg and then rub the finger prints off - Jenalyn copied her every move! It was so sweet!


(Sorry the video is so dark, that window behind them ruined it!)



Oh, and one more thing. My favorite new word Corbin says is "straw-bellies" (translation: strawberries). It's so sweet! I should get a video of him asking for "more strawbellies peeeeease!"

Family Movie Night, Mommy Brag, and Portraits from a 4-year old

Family Movie Night:

The other night we had a Family Movie Night. We pulled the futon mattress into the living room, we all got our favorite blankets and pillows, popped popcorn and snuggled together to watch a short movie before bed. The kids loved it! They have asked to do it every night since. We're planning on doing it again tomorrow night for FHE - Coming Soon to the Zolli Theater: Veggie Tales Lord of the Beans. *lol*


(There's Jenalyn with her funny faces again! - I LOVE IT!)

Mommy Brag:

Not one but TWO people approached me today and told me how much they enjoyed hearing Corbin singing in Nursery today :) One wasn't even a nursery leader, but a parent in there with his daughter. He said he heard just one kid singing so he walked around to figure out who it was and then he realized it was Corbin *awe* and he said he knew almost every word (I am Like a Star Shining Brightly is one of the favorites in our house). The other compliment came from one of the Primary Presidency. She was in there leading the singing time for the Nursery. She said she always appreciates it when Corbin is there because she knows she won't be singing solo *lol* My big boy is such a good singer! He can dance too, you know!

Portraits from a 4-Year Old:

We went to a Financial Preparedness class at the church tonight. They provided babysitting for the little kids (thank heavens for that - do you know how hard it is to get babysitters on a Sunday night?). Well when we went in to get the kids afterwards we were shown two pictures Jenalyn drew of her mom & dad:

Here's dad - complete with glasses and whiskers on his head and face:
And Mom - check out her whiskers: *lol*
Oh geez...how embarrassing is that? HONESTLY!

My First Kegger

We had our friends Chris & Heidi over for dinner Friday night and they brought a KEG! *lol* Their kids were with the grandparents for the weekend so Chris & Heidi were ready to PARTY! So of course we had to take some fun, irreverent pictures! Virgil makes some mean root beer floats!

We had a great time.

Easter Sunday

I'm going to have to make this quick. It's late and I'm very very tired *yawn* I'm just posting this to pacify my sis! *lol* I love you Cher! Sorry I couldn't give you more tonight. It was a highly stressful day today!

But this post isn't about my stressful day, is it? We'll save that for another time and another forum. Lets talk about our wonderful Easter Sunday!

The Easter Bunny hid the kids' baskets and left little notes here and there leading them to the baskets. This worked out AWESOME! We have 9:00 church so it was easy to put off the baskets until after church (out of sight, out of mind, you know) - good thing because when Corbin found his candy he wasted no time devouring it! It was gone in seconds and he was begging for more *lol*

So Jason was scheduled to speak in church but woke up feeling nauseated - no, it wasn't nerves! He doesn't get nervous before speaking - in fact I think he thrives on it (psycho!) So he ended up calling the bishop and rescheduling for another time. ...which meant I had to take the kids to church by myself. I know this may sound terrible, but we purposely got to church LATE - I didn't know if I could sit with the kids thru all of Sacrament by myself! I've never done it and the thought terrified me!

After church we went on the hunt for the baskets. This was a BIG hit! It was fun to watch Jenalyn try to figure out the clues. Like: Find your next clue in the BIG rectangle where you keep your milk. *lol* okay, sounds simple, but it was a lot of fun for my 4-year old. Corbin just tagged along...mostly.

After baskets and naps Grandma Jan & Grandpa John came over for dinner. We did not have a traditional Easter feast - we did that the night before at Great-Grandma "Scrabe's" house. We had pork stir fry over rice. It was really good! I think everyone liked it. It was actually a very pleasant meal with the in-laws! My father-in-law isn't always easy company so this was very nice.

So that's our Easter in a nutshell. I'll hafta come back on tomorrow and post our Saturday Easter celebration at my grandma's house. That was LOADS of fun!

Here are a couple pictures:

(*pfft* The best picture I could get of them together - lame, I know! They were watching t.v. and were NOT interested in having their pictures taken! I could have turned off the T.V. but Corbin would have had a meltdown and his preoccupied-face is much more appealing than his fitty-face! This was before church...and before breakfast so he was cranky.)

Beautiful Jenalyn - I LOVE this picture of her!! She is getting really good at posing for pictures! Actually, I have a hard time getting her to smile normally! She's all about funny faces lately. One day I'll have to dedicate a post entirely to Jenalyn's funny faces! She's hilarious!

And Mr. Cheeser himself! Taken before church.

Jenalyn after church with her basket and Strawberry Shortcake puzzle pail :) Unfortunately I did not get a picture of their baskets before they ravaged them.

And, as I said, once Corbin got his hands on his candy - it was all over! He just kept shoving it in! Look at his little sweater vest! It's covered in drool (good thing this was after church, eh?) he couldn't even get his little mouth closed over all the candy! Good thing the bunny was thinking and only put 1-2 pieces of candy in each egg *winky wink*

So there you have it - not so short after all, eh? And now I'm going to have a hard time getting up for work tomorrow. I blame YOU Cheryl! *lol*

Cover Girl

Why yes that is my girl on the front page of that catalog! How exciting, huh? They were taking pictures of Jenalyn's preschool class one day and they pulled Jenalyn aside and took some shots of just her - because she "posed so nicely for the camera." *LOL* that girl is no stranger to the camera! I'm a snap-happy mama! She knows exactly what to do when someone whips out a camera!

Anyhow, when we were leaving Preschool this afternoon we ran into one of the other moms and Jenalyn showed her the cover and said "That's ME!" She said, "WOW - you're a STAR!" *awe* Jenalyn looked so proud!

Funny story though, the lady taking the picture said she kept saying, "Hurry - I have to sit on the potty!" That explains the slightly strained smile *lol*

What a cutie pie.

Since this post is all about my girl, I'll share her latest "thing." SUPER HEROES! Ever since we discovered Super Why she has been all about Super Heroes. Today she was struggling with her tights and I asked if she needed help and she said, "No, I want to be strong! I want to be a hero!" All the while grunting and tugging on her tights. I guess if you can put your own tights on that makes you a Super Hero. *wink* She also carries the Super Readers around in the palm of her hand. They go everywhere with us...I even have to give each one of them kisses goodnight!

New Layout

So I decided to take the leap and switch up my layout. Tara's cute new layout inspired me. Now I know that when you do that, it wipes out your links list and other fun little things, I think I'll be keeping this layout for a good long while! That was a lot of work! I hope I didn't miss any of my friends while re-creating my list!

In other news, we're home sick from church today *blegh* we all have colds! The kids are too boogery to take to Primary and nursery today...and Jason and I are just feeling too lousy to want to move more than necessary. >>stomping my feet<< I didn't want to catch this!!! I hope I can avoid the full-blown YUCK. I'm popping vitamins and chugging O.J. Hopefully that will work.

FHE on Saturday Morning?

Jenalyn came in to wake me up yesterday morning and spotted my Book of Mormon by my bed, she grabbed it and announced that we needed to have Family Home Evening.

So she climbed up on the bed with me and with the dim light from the lamp and a tiny bit of sunlight thru the windows, just me and my sweet little girl had "FHE". Before opening the book to "teach" me she said we needed to have song and prayer. So we sang "Families Can Be Together Forever" (so softly so we wouldn't wake up daddy) and then she said a sweet little prayer. Then she opened the book and started to "read" it to me. She mumbled a lot but I caught a couple phrases, "Be careful with other people's feelings," "Heavenly Father gave us our spirits," and "Jesus loves us." *awe* SO sweet! Then she closed the book and took my arm, feeling the bones in my wrist and told me that there is a spirit in there *giggle*

It made me feel so good to know that she actually listens once in a while when we have FHE. We had a lesson no too long ago about how Heavenly Father gave us our bodies. We talked about how our spirits live inside our bodies - everyone has one. It was a little difficult to explain the difference between your body and your spirit to a 4 year old - but at least now I know she was listening :)

Color Me Bad, Pat Benetar and Pearl Jam

Oh MY! I love the noon hour on the radio! It's the BEST! We've got the Nineties at Noon, the Old School Lunch, and the Flashback Cafe (is that what they call it?). It seriously pumps me up! Makes me feel young again! The only problem is...which do I listen to? It's too hard to choose!

New Stuff

I got new skates yesterday *woohoo* and I took them for their first spin tonight :) Aren't they awesome? Huh? Aren't they? They felt a little tight tonight, but I think it won't take too long to break them in. I love love love my Wednesday nights with Venessa. It's so refreshing to get out once a week and just be *ME* and not mommy, or wife, or housekeeper! Venessa and I always have such a good time together. We're such goof balls! I LOVE YOU V! *gigglesnortgiggle*

So that was one purchase - we also got a new point-n-shoot camera that fits in my purse :) Jason calls it my blogging camera! Now I can snap a picture whenever/wherever and BLOG about it :)

Who else loves tax season?