Words of wisdom

Here's my thought as I prepare for Big Brothers/Big Sisters to come haul away my unwanteds.


Have nothing in your homes that you do not know to be useful and believe to be beautiful. -William Morris

Another thought I want to remember:The heart is great which shows moderation in the midst of prosperity.Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Halloween treats

You know how they say if something is worth doing it's worth doing well? I agree, and I also think if something is worth doing, it's worth blogging.

I thought I'd share some fun Halloween treats we made for a party last week. We had so much fun making them!

First we made mini-caramel apples. (Except we used melted peanut butter chips instead of caramel) I scooped out balls of apples, making sure there was skin on each piece. Then the girls stuck a tooth pick in each one. I dipped them in the melted pb chips and then the girls dipped them in sprinkles or red hots and then we put each one in a little paper baking cup.

Here's the finished product.

They were so yummy!

The other thing we took to the party was mummy dogs. I got some yummy smoked sausage hot dogs (taste like Little Smokies, but a fraction of the price). I cut them in half length-wise and then again the other way so they wouldn't roll away. Then I took refrigerator biscuits and rolled them out flat.

I found that if the biscuits had been out of the fridge for a few minutes it worked better than super cold. Also, pulling them out into an oval before rolling them helped, too. I just used a small smooth baby bottle to roll them.

Then I used a pizza cutter to cut strips from the dough. I wrapped each piece of hot dog with about 2 strips. I started at one end and went clockwise then did the other strip from the other end counterclockwise, leaving a space for the face. I baked them for about 9 minutes. The kids LOVED these. The tested them for lunch the day of the party and then at the party they tray was empty very fast! Jenna has already requested that we make them again on Halloween!

Congratulations Court and Jake!

Here's the darling Nathan Henry! Born around 10:20 pm Thursday night. 6lbs 13 oz, 20 inches & beautiful!



After 26 long hours at the hospital and very little progression, Court had a c-section. She was so wiped out, but seemed to be in good spirits as they got her ready to go. Probably relieved to be done as much as anything!

As Dr Hanson put it, her epidural "pooped out" at the end, so she felt way too much of a c-section and they kept knocking her out to help her avoid the post-op pain. Then her airway kept closing, so they had to put a short tube in briefly to help her breathe. By 11:30 she was back in her room and doing better. She was still in a LOT of pain and couldn't keep her eyes open, but she was a trooper! Jake was a great support and right by her side the entire time. Such a proud papa!

We are so excited for the newest member of our family! I will get more pictures today, so check back later.

Halloweening

Friday morning we had a great time at the Arveseth's Halloween party! Jenna was out of school, so she got to come too. Hill planned a great party!

Here we have Strawberry Shortcake, the Big Bad Wolf, Little Red Riding Hood, Bob the Builder, and Tinkerbell. Also in attendance were Yoda, Sherlock Holmes, a pirate, and some very cute babies!



The kids decorated sacks and then had a candy hunt.


They played "Pin the face on the Pumpkin."



Hill also blew up tons of balloons and gave the kids each giant glow stick. She turned off most of the lights and the kids had a ball whacking the balloons with the glow sticks!

Here's my Tinkerbell and Strawberry Short cake ready to go!

Every one had so much fun! Thanks, Hill for all your hard work!

Corrine needs...

I saw this on Sally's blog and thought I'd try it. Go to google.com and search your name followed by the word "needs" ie "Corrine needs." See what you find. Here are some that came up.

1.First of all Corrine needs to be dedicated to clearing her house of fleas and this could take anything from one go to doing it to many, many times. ... Not true!

2. Corrine Needs Your Help! Make a Secure Online Contribution Today ...Hadn't thought of this, but feel free to donate!

3.Corrine needs to turn 2 more or gain 45 more Vampire points to reach the next level: Vampire Temptress! Corrine should get out there and bite some people! ...

4. Corrine needs to pay up. Another instance where someone believes Government should take care of them, not the person taking care of themselves.

5. Corrine needs instruction with these types of English words in order to more fully benefit from instructional settings

6.Corrine needs help planning for an uncertain future. She knows that she will need more assistance in her activities of daily living. This is always true!

7. Corrine needs me now, more than ever.

Who knew I was so needy?

Weekend getaway

We decided it was a good time for a little family getaway, so we headed south for the weekend. Because of lovely construction, I-15 was a mess, so we took the scenic route and followed Redwood Road along the west side of Utah Lake. Here are some pictures Jenna took of Lincoln Point for the Reflections contest. It was a beautiful day and such a nice drive!

We got back on the freeway at Santaquin and we were back up to speed. We continued south until we got to Scipio where we headed up over the mountain. I should have taken some pictures here. It was beautiful! I can't even count the times I have driven past Scipio on my way to St George and never had a clue that such beautiful land was right there!

Anyway, we kept going and went through Aurora on our way to Richfield. The girls kept asking if this was Richfield and how long it would be until we got there. We weren't 100% sure where we were going, so it was a bit of adventure for everyone. When we got to our hotel in Richfield the girls were so excited. Aubrey thought we had moved there and was wondering how we would get daddy's car there! Once inside our hotel room she looked out the window and saw a vinyl fence and told Tim, "Look, Dad. The fence is white. You won't even have to paint!" Move-in ready!

We had a nice relaxing evening with dinner at JB's- thrilling!-and then went to visit Tim's college roommate, Garrett, and his family. The girls had a great time playing with those cute kids and we headed back to the hotel for some swimming. Aubrey asked if we could go back to our apartment yet. She wasn't convinced we weren't moving!

The next morning I went and checked out Curves and then we headed out for more exploring. We found Annabella, Glenwood, Monroe, and Elsinore. While at a park in Annabella, a lady said we should go to the pumpkin patch in Elsinore. She said you just drive into town and go a few streets down and see the sign. You gotta love small towns!

We eventually found the pumpkin patch and had a great time! You ride on a trailer behind a tractor and they haul you out into the field. We got to choose our own pumpkins, gourds and squash.

Lydia calls all things produce 'apples' so she was busy yelling "Apple, apple"for a long time. We did finally get her to say "pumpkin" a few times.

We put the girls and the pumpkins back on the wagon and asked the guy how much we owed him. He told us $3 and I about fell over. I wish I would have grabbed a few big ones! I was expecting to pay $.25 a pound for these!

Jenna posed the pumpkins and took this picture for Reflections, too.

Here she is with her spoils!

We had so much fun on our little trip! We came home through Sanpete and saw Grandma and Grandpa, so the trip was complete. The girls we so good, especially considering how long we had them cooped up in the car.

Maybe someday I'll tell you why we chose Richfield...

Fun with Netflix

My friend Lisa sent us a free month of Netflix and it has been so much fun! I look forward to checking the mail almost as much as I did on my mission! We don't go to the movies often- hardly ever is more like it, so there are tons for me to chose from that I haven't seen. I thought I'd share some of my new-found favorites.

The last movie I watched was The Bucket List. I loved it! Perhaps it was because it continued my week's theme of cancer and death, but I really enjoyed this movie! I would definitely recommend it!

Some others that I like were Pursuit of Happyness (which always bugged my that it was misspelled, but now I get it), Juno, Sweet Land, and Definitely, Maybe.

My light-hearted escape has been all of season one of Pushing Daisies. I always loved that show but don't ever get to watch it when it's on. That's another one you should check out.

So there's what I've been doing lately while ironing, folding laundry and cleaning my room. I rarely just sit and watch something -my hands must be doing something! Is that ADD of me?
Anyway, as the weather turns colder, go get a movie!

Four-year-old's Freudian Slip

As I was dropping Aubrey off at preschool today she started to run away before she shut the door of the van. I called to her to please shut the door.

She poked her head back into the van and ever-so-sweetly said, "Thanks for annoying me about that, Mom. I almost forgot!"

I really hope she meant to say "reminding." Am I that much of a nag?

Making Strides in Utah Cancer Walk

(This is just a part of our team)
Saturday was our long-awaited cancer walk. It was AWESOME! Thanks to my great team who braved the cold weather and walked. We made it to the car right as the rain/sleet/snow started at the end of the walk.

We had about 30 people on our team- it was an overwhelming response! I hope this will be a tradition we will continue no matter where we have to come from! There was an amazing response from my friend Andree's family. Her sweet sister even came from Connecticut and walked with us.

Andree and her girls

Maddie, Kaylee, Jaeden

The back of our shirts had the names of Cancers survivors and those who lost their battle. Each one was a loved one of one of the walkers.

We each wore a sticker with the name of a person we were walking for. Since Tara couldn't come I put her mom's name on my sticker. The pin is my friend's husband, Jared, who died two years and one day before other walk. Cancer takes so many precious lives seemingly before their times. We don't see Heavenly Father's whole plan, but I hope that through our efforts we can be the means of sparing families this pain so early!

Here are some of my Curves & Weight Watchers friends.

Sidenote: I have been so emotional since the walk. I don't know if there were tender spirits nearby or what, but if you are still looking for a way to help, there is a little boy named Trent who is about to lose his battle with leukemia. You can read his blog and see the amazing spirit and faith of this little boy. All the Chick-Fil-A's did a fundraiser yesterday and they are still collecting money for his family for medical and funeral expenses. If you are looking for a good deed to do, I would recommend you look there!

(As I am typing this the song "Streets of Heaven" came up on my playlist. Now I'm really bawling! I can't see to type, hope this makes sense!)

Been there? Done that?

(Just copy and paste this to your blog and bold the ones that you HAVE done.)
Thanks, Mom and Dad for facilitating/funding so many of these!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables- we still have tomatoes if you need!
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train- St. Petersburg to Moscow
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked- No, but picked up hitch hiker
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors- Vernal & British Columbia Ü
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language- ASL & Spanish, with help from others
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance- No, I refused!
47. Had your portrait painted- Does a sktch artist count?
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp- A death camp in Russia. Millions buried there
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial- My girls now play with my Cabbage Patch kid!
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House- Drove past
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating- Just watched my dad & Tim do this
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury- No and I am one of the few people who WANTS to!
91. Met someone famous- most famous was Jimmy Carter
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake- Nope- just threw rocks in!
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

It's beginning to look a lot like...

OK, I know it's barely mid-October, but with all the snowy weather I had to break out the Christmas music on the way to school this morning.
I added some of our favorite Christmas music (John Denver and the Muppets) to my playlist, so if you want you can scroll to the bottom of the playlist and choose some mood music!

New Hair Do Blog address

My favorite hair do site got deleted by blogger, so here is her new link.



http://girlydohairstyles.blogspot.com/

Little Birdie Secrets

Here's another fun blog for you to check out. Tons of cute crafty ideas! I haven't had much time to look through the whole thing, but she has tons of great ideas.

Thought you might like a peek!

Conference Time

I am so glad it is time for General Conference! From this afternoon, one of my favorite talks was from Elder Wirthlin. His advice to try laughing when you might have groaned, or in other words to find the humor in a tough situation was great! The story about his daughter will be a great reminder of that!

Can't wait for more tomorrow!

Back up, Panhandler

A man in his 40s ON A SKATEBOARD approached me and my two youngest daughters in a parking lot today (in Cottonwood Heights, thank you very much) asking if I had any pennies I could spare. He asked for pennies and I really only had larger coins, so I could honestly tell him no. I have a rule that if you come up from behind me while my kids are already in the cart, you are just lucky you didn't get hit with something! That is a mama-bear NO NO!

Anyway, as he went on to the next young mother with kids, Aubrey looked at me and said, "He should go get a JOB!"

Her words, not mine...

Lest you think I am teaching my kids to be mean and stingy, we donate items through various charities and I make the girls choose a few of their things each time. We pay out tithes and offerings through our church and we are usually kind and generous. I just REALLY don't like being vulnerable in a parking lot with my kids. You think I'm getting my purse out where you can reach it! Yeah right. Back off!

WW update

I haven't blogged this for a little while, but I have had people ask about my progress. If you aren't interested, you can stop reading here and I won't be offended!

My progress has been a little slow this month due to my eating too many yummy things- no one to blame but myself! I have finally reached a milestone, though. I passed my 10% mark. Yes, I have lost more than 10% of my starting weight. I got my 16 week award and my 10% award today!

Now I am down a total of 22.4 and still working on that 25 lb mark. Here I come!