The Mortensen Family

1. Todd--his great big blue eyes and broad shoulders to carry the load
2. Carson--his giggle
3. Wyatt--his deep raspy voice
4. Emma--her cute curls and meaningless babble
5. All my other family
6. Bedtime for the kids--which it is right now--ahhh!
7. Bedtime for me
8. Bubble bath
9. A good book
10. My house
11. A good job-for me and for Todd
12. Good health
13. Holidays-spending time with family
14. Christmas-a good excuse to go shopping
15. Friends that I can talk to
16. People who offer to babysit for me
17. The temple
18. My testimony
19. Sister Brown who sits with me in Sacrament Meeting
20. Todd doing dishes
21. Todd putting the kids to bed
22. The gym--and yoga
23. My scriptures--helps me feel peace and gain perspective
24. Family vacations
25. Scrapbooking--a great release for me
26. Brownies--any dessert for that matter
27. Jesus and the atonement
28. My curly hair--makes it so easy to fix in the morning
29. Sunshine and beaches
30. Going for walks-especially with my family
31. Diapers-so much easier than potty training
32. The time in which I live-technology, toilets, running water, etc.
33. My education
34. Parties
35. Fun games
36. Music
37. Service-giving and receiving
38. Quiet times to ponder
39. Knowledge of the plan of salvation--there is life after death
40. Telephones to keep in touch with relatives
41. Being a Mommy (not a Mom)
42. Old family stories--you know, the ones told a hundred times
43. My ability to learn from others' mistakes
44. This country and the freedom I enjoy
45. Compliments
46. Trying a new recipe--and loving it
47. The priesthood in my home
48. My mind
49. My upbringing--making good choices
50. Blogging

The Good:

• No more diapers $$$
• No more wiping poop (wait I still have to wipe my 4 year old)
• Quality time spent playing patty cake and reading stories while waiting endlessly for him/her to go
• The potty dance (meaning he/she actually went on the toilet)
• Cute little naked babies running around the house

The Bad:

• Seeing wet dripping down the van window and knowing it's not water
• The constant smell of urine throughout the house
• Stepping on a wet spot on the carpet-not knowing who or what made it
• Cleaning frequency of the bathroom stepping up to every day--or better yet 3 times a day
• My four year old suddenly needing candy every time he goes potty
• Sippy cups everywhere (trying to fill them full of liquid to speed up the learning curve)
• While waiting endlessly for him/her to go potty, I realize I have to go (This happens every time!)
• The power struggles that suddenly appear (You WILL go potty now!)

Change lost down air vents in van=$7.83
Ripped library book=$20
Two dozen eggs cracked on kitchen floor=$4
Broken butter dish=$15
Hotel lock on front door=$7
Paint to cover marker lines on the wall=$20
Broken candle collection=$12
More damaged library books=$5
Broken windshield=$200
Hospital bills=$1500

The sight of Wyatt sleeping= priceless

Sometimes it's just nice to get away. My wonderful husband helped me get away last weekend by watching the kids all weekend (braving the fires, taking them to church by himself, and watching The Empire Strikes Back). I was able to meet Chandler in Saint George and do some scrapbooking. I mean serious scrapbooking. Todd didn't think we could really scrapbook the whole weekend--but we did! It was so much fun, I got a lot accomplished, talked my heart out to a girlfriend, and slept through the night. It's amazing how much better I feel when I get a little time to myself! We plan on doing it again in May. If anyone's interested just let me know!

Halloween consisted of many fun activities for our family. From carving pumpkins to trick-or-treating. Pumpkin carving was fun even though Carson didn't want to touch the guts inside because it was too gross. He carved a great 3 eyed big smile pumpkin. Good thing it wasn't a contest because I carved 4 pumpkins and Todd still wasn't done with his.


Costumes are always fun. This year it was all about Toy Story 2. Carson was a great Buzz Lightyear (even though the day before Halloween he wanted to be Darth Vader) Wyatt loved being Woody and saying "Mee-haw cowboy" and Emma was Jessie and just loved the candy that came with it--and her hat!


Trick-or-treating didn't quite turn out as I had planned--and boy I had plans. 3:30-home from work, 5:00-dinner (traditional chili and cornbread), 6:00 trick-or-treating, 7:00-dessert, 7:30-bed.


The kids enjoyed trick-or-treating, for about 10 minutes. Then they got tired (we're only talking about around the block here) and Emma kept sitting down in the middle of the sidewalk. So we ended up carrying the twins and finishing out our block. Then the real fun started. They got to hand out candy. Wyatt would ask everyone what their name was and Carson would give a disclaimer not to eat too much candy or you'll get sick.


We had so many trick-or-treaters that we just sat on the front porch and hung out. The kids loved throwing their light sticks in the air and playing tricks with them. They ended up having a great Halloween and not going to bed until 9:00--so much for big plans.

I remember as a little girl having my dad call around Halloween time and ask if my brother and I wanted to come over and help build a scarecrow. This is one of the few traditions from my dad that has passed down to my kids. We have a lot of fun making our scarecrows each year. The kids' favorite part is climbing on them when we are done and playing rolly pumpkins down the hill in our front yard (which has nothing to do with building scarecrows but they love it anyway.) For some reason every year all the scarecrows look cute except for mine . I (my scarecrow) always end up looking fat and saggy. Maybe it's a premonition of things to come.

Last Sunday was our Primary Program and Carson was asked to sing a solo. He was so excited that every week he'd ask if he could sing in the microphone. He sang "Jesus Said Love Everyone" and did such a good job. He also did sign language for "I Am a Child of God". I was very proud of him, even though the whole second half of the program he forgot to stand up and sing.