Can you believe it .... I didn't take one picture all day!?!

I started the day with the "Earn Your Turkey" 4 mile race and the weather was great this year. Only Danny and I ran so it was pretty low key. I was really excited with my time though (31:45)- I finished faster than last year. And I was really excited that my mom and dad came to cheer us on. There isn't much better than coming to the finish and hearing my mom's whistle and her loud yelling. It definitely gives me the added energy to sprint it in.

Then I came home and started cooking. I was in charge of the ham and the appetizers. Then we went to my parent's house to hang out and for dinner. Dinner was delicious and I ate way too much. The kids got hungry before we were ready to eat so we fed all of them then sent them downstairs to play. Fantastic! I actually got to enjoy my food and spend time talking to my family. It was so fun.

Then the boys played ping pong. We played a board game. We brought the kids over here for a movie and playtime and then all the boys went back over to my parents for all night game night (Call of Duty 5). And I am at home with 7 kids all asleep by 9:00 (since all the 6 year old cousins wanted a slumber party).

It was a GREAT turkey day! I am so thankful for my blessings - my family, my health, my many temporal blessings and above all for the knowledge that I am a child of God.

I hope you all had a great thanksgiving too!!!

Last year was our big Thanksgiving with everyone here except Mark of course (but he'll be back from his mission next year ... yippee!).

The last few nights Sophie has woken up to eat in the middle of the night. I realize this is not uncommon for a 4 month old - but she has been sleeping through the night since about 5 weeks so it's kind of a big deal to me and I really don't like getting up. So I thought maybe it was time to add in a little extra meal before bed. Tonight Sophie had some yummy rice cereal and I think she did well. She actually reminded me of Luke's first time eating (which is a very good sign he was a super eater).

Now I just hope she sleeps good tonight!!!

Last week I saw an article on my MSN homepage about how to NOT turn into your mother. Are you kidding me? There is no-one I would rather turn into than my mom. She is absolutely amazing.

I have a bad head cold and felt horrible yesterday. So the first thing I did when we got to my parent's house for Sunday dinner was ask my mom to take care of me. She of course got straight to work - made me fenugreek tea, rubbed all my points, popped my achy neck and back and made sure I didn't have to deal with my kids the rest of the night.

Then when I went home last night I took the girls and Todd was following a few minutes later with the boys. Claire let herself out of the back door and when she closed it she managed to get her hand closed in the door (she pushed the fancy button to close the door and didn't get her hand moved in time - OUCH). She was on the opposite side of the van so by the time she screamed I had to run around the van holding Sophie in my arms, pull open the door, sweep her into my arms and carry them both inside (using my super powers that mom's get when they are scared for their kids). I set Sophie in her bumbo (luckily it was just sitting right there on the table so it took all of 0.5 seconds) grabbed Claire a bag of ice and called my mom. In near hysterics I just said "Mom. Claire shut her hand in the door come over." Then I hung up the phone and just held my sweet baby with ice on her hand to calm her down. Todd was there 2 minutes later and then my mom showed up right behind him. He hurried and took care of the kids and my mom checked Claire's hand. Luckily, Claire's little hand is almost all cartilage so everything OK and nothing was broken. We slathered it with Arnica, covered it up and put Claire to bed.

Then this morning when I came out of my room from getting ready I saw my mom's coat hanging on the stair rail so I went downstairs to find her. She had already cleaned the boys room (not a small task since they are boys), picked up all the trash out of the basement and put it in a nice little pile, started a load of wash, folded a load of wash (you know the last one that never quite makes it out of the dryer - for me it's always towels), pulled out the kitchen trash to take outside and was planning on taking the trash can out to the street for trash day (I beat her to it though), all after checking Claire's hand. She really is amazing and can do it all. Her super powers don't turn on only in times of need like mine. She has them permanently. I hope I can earn mine too!!!

So today (and everyday) I am so thankful for my mom. I am so glad that she lives less than a half-mile away. I love that she rides her bike over to my house just to stop by and check on us.

Thanks mom. I love you!

p.s. isn't she the cutest mom????

I don't have a lot of childhood memories of Thanksgiving. We never really went anywhere because we lived too far away to go anywhere for a weekend. I spent almost every Thanksgiving when I was at BYU in Provo or at my roomies houses. But then when my parents moved out to Utah everything changed with the holiday. It is now my favorite of all the holidays.

What's not to like? 2 days off work, family, lots of food, and no presents to be bought. I LOVE it. The best part of the holiday for me is that it's one of the few times my entire family gets together.

For several years we went up to Spokane to my grandpa's house. The funniest part is that we would NEVER leave the house and all the girls go stir crazy. The boys would all bring their computers and set them up in grandpa's basement and play games all night long.

Some of our family traditions are: all night game nights (as many as the boys can get away with), family volleyball, shopping or a movie for Emily's b-day, and now the turkey trot (hopefully we can make this one a tradition - last year was soooo much fun!)

First let me just say my hubby ROCKS!!! For the last few weeks I haven't left work by 5:00 once. I've just been really since busy since I got my new job. And every night when I get home he or Timmy is holding Sophie and takin' care of business. He hasn't complained once. Did I mention he rocks?

So tonight at 5:45 when I was leaving work I called to tell him I had to stop by the grocery store to pick up some treats for YW tonight and asked him if he wanted me to pick up something for dinner since I wouldn't have time to make anything and he said not to worry about it that he would fix dinner. Seriously? HE ROCKS!!!

It's known in our family that Todd makes the best grilled cheese sandwiches, it's his meal when he cooks. We used to enjoy his grilled cheese every Sunday after church but since we have 1:00 church we haven't had them in a while. It was such a simple meal but it was so great to come home to the table set, dinner cooking on the griddle and happy kids.

When I got home from YW the kids were in bed, teeth were brushed, homework was done and Todd was holding one not-sleeping baby. He rocks I tell you.

While I'm thinking about grilled cheese....Todd and I eat them differently. We both like white bread and real butter, he likes American Cheese. I'll do American or Cheddar. Todd puts peanut butter and jelly on top of his after it's cooked. Isn't that crazy??? Growing up my mom always put mayo inside it or grilled them with tuna. But I like a nice basic grilled cheese and I love soup on the side.

How do you eat yours?

P.S. Did I mention Todd ROCKS!?!

I got tagged by Brandy (I'd link but she's private). So here I go....

Where is your mobile phone? charging
Where is your significant other? computer
Your hair color? black
Your mother? crazy
Your father? planner
One favorite thing? exercise
Your dream last night? weird
Your dream goal? happy
The room you're in? bedroom
Your hobby? running
Your fear? mice
Where do you want to be in six years? here
Where were you last night? home
What you're not? selfish
One of your wish list items? tummy-tuck (does the hyphen make it one word???)
Where you grew up? Missouri
The last thing you did? FHE
What are you wearing? jammies
Your TV? off
Your pets? Todd's
Your computer? laptop
Your mood? happy
Missing someone? no
Your car? Durango
Something you're not wearing? socks
Favorite drink? coke
Your summer? memorable
Love someone? unconditionally
Your favorite color? red
When was the last time you laughed? tonight
When was the last time you cried? October

Today I woke up to a sweet beautiful baby hungry and ready to eat instead of the alarm clock. She greeted me with her big toothless smile and I forgot all about how many times I was up with her last night and how long I paced the floors begging her to go back to sleep.

Today I hit my goal weight.

Today I didn't get mad when Todd got a few extra minutes of shut eye because I knew he was just as tired as I was for holding his sweet little girl for hours instead of getting his fill of computer time.

Today I went running even though I really didn't want to and felt so much better by the end of the run. I was so glad for a great friend and workout buddy to keep me going and listen to me complain about my long night.

Today I took both my girls to the grocery store and no-one cried. I even managed to say no to the candy requests at the checkout without a fit.

Today I did 4 loads of laundry.

Today I took all my kids to play at grandma and grandpa's house and got to just sit there while the kids played talking to my mom and holding my precious baby.

Today I looked at Tayson and wondered where the time went and when he got so big. Have I been a good enough mother to him? Does he know just how much I love him and how funny I think he is? Will the next 6 years go by even faster?

Today I went to dinner with my family and enjoyed eating out. No fits or fights over eating. No crying or being embarrassed in public. Just good times enjoying being waited on, eating yummy food even desert and spending time together as a family.

Today I had to buy new pants for Luke because he has already outgrown his new fall clothes that I bought a month ago. Thank goodness for friends and family day at the Gap.

Today I am so grateful for my marriage. I couldn't ask for a better man. He's HOT, he loves me, he loves our kids, he honors his priesthood, he's a very hard worker, he's very funny, he went to the mall with me and watched the kids while I shopped, he is everything I ever wanted and so much more.

Today I looked into Luke's big brown eyes and melted.

Today was a good day!

Mike on Bass

Mornings can be very hectic here (not that we're unique in this) and this morning was no exception. While I was hurrying to get myself all dolled up and ready for work Todd got the boys dressed and was getting them breakfast.

When I came out I completely overreacted to what Tayson was wearing. He had on a blue and red shirt with black slightly-too-small sweatpants (the kind with elastic around the ankles). So I told him he had to change and was not allowed to wear sweatpants to school. There were no clean jeans so Todd had done the best he could but I knew I could do better so I marched right downstairs and got some nice brown pants and another shirt. Now he could go to school.

Getting him to change out of his favorite Star Wars Legos shirt wasn't easy, but it just didn't match the brown pants so it HAD TO GO. After several minutes of fits, crying and fighting he was dressed appropriately and eating his breakfast. I had won the battle!

Then tonight during dinner Tayson said to us "guess what? someone at school today was wearing sweatpants and he didn't even get in trouble."

Why in the world do I even care. What an absolute waste of energy to get all worked up over something like a pair of sweatpants.

We got our pictures taken and they turned out FABULOUS!!! Check out some samples on Jen's Photo Blog.

Jen was so great with the kids and the LOVED her. I absolutely love her style and couldn't be happier with how they turned out. She did Sophie's newborn pictures too!

There are so many questions and opinions on if blogging is good or bad. Like almost everything I believe it can be either. I did a search on lds.org and found this article and I really liked it. Also, yesterday in church a letter from the First Presidency was read and they talked about mormon.org and how this site is for people who aren't LDS but want to know more.

For me, blogging can be a waste of time sometimes. But it is also a way for me to record the little things my family does (I keep paper journals for more private things). I take so many more pictures of my kids and write down their silly conversations. I use blogging to show how much I love my family and my friends and my life. What I need to do a little more on my blog now is share my testimony.

Because I know God lives and I know Christ gave his life for me. I know I can be with my amazing husband and family for all eternity.

For some reason I absolutely LOVE disco. Just this morning I was blasting my disco CD in spin. It just keeps me rockin'. So I thought I would dedicate this flashback to a few of my disco pictures.

Before I write this post I have to say I love my dentist. He is GREAT and my kids really like him.

But no matter how great he is I dread going to the dentist. I would say I have a rather high pain tolerance. Have a baby without medication? No problem! I've done it 4 times and would do it again if I had any desire to be prego again (but that's not the subject of this post). However, when it comes to dental work knock me out, drug me up, do whatever it takes so that I don't feel a thing. Ohhh how I hate dental work! And I haven't even had that much since I was a kid.

Anyways, last week the boys got their teeth cleaned and checked. Sadly, this didn't go well. Luke had 4 cavities and Tayson had 1. So I got to take both boys to the dentist on Tuesday (Luke in the morning and Tayson in the afternoon). I sat in the chair watching them get shots and fillings and I just felt sick to my stomach. It was so hard to sit there watching my babies in that big chair going through something I dread so much. They were both troopers and didn't flinch or complain at all (like I said my dentist ROCKS) I was so proud of them. Then since I was so traumatized by being at the dentist I took them to the super target (pronounced tar jay) to pick out a toy. **side note: Luke wanted a light saber and I gave in...we now have 6 of them!!! **

Being a mom is so crazy sometimes. I can't believe how I get when I think something my hurt my kids. They weren't scared at all and I had butterflies the whole time.

Oh and did I mention I still have to take Luke back to get his last 2 fillings done next week?

I totally forgot this hilarious story until Timmy brought it up at dinner tonight and it must be documented.

Our drive home from Vegas last month was a fiasco! It took us 8 hours to get home. We stopped at 3 stores to pick up a new movie for the kids to watch, 3 gas stations for potty breaks, 4 gas stations looking for free air for the tires, 1 gas station to check the pressure in the newly filled tires and let out air, and 1 in-n-out for Todd's last double-double until Christmas.

With all of that action our patience was running thin. We were packed tightly in the minivan - Todd and Timmy in the front, Tayson and Luke in the captains chairs and me in the back with Claire and Sophie. The boys just kept bickering and after about 10 minutes of telling them to stop and to be nice and to not touch each other or throw things Todd finally said "fine just do whatever you want."

For some reason Luke really took this to heart. He started chanting "FAT...FAT....FAT....FAT" when Tayson told him to stop he said "I'm serious Tays you're for reals fat!" What in the world? We were laughing so hard I was crying. Finally Luke and Tayson just cracked up then the whole thing was over. I have no idea why he would call Tayson fat or think that was the meanest thing he could say. The kid is so dang random...just like his dad!

When we were talking about that story I said how funny Luke is and that he is just like his dad. And Tayson said "and I'm just like you mom, I have your temperature". Then tonight when Todd tucked him in Tayson asked him to lay down with him and Todd said not tonight so Tays was frumping and when Todd kissed him goodnight he kissed his eye and he said "I love your eyeball" to which Tayson said "you ONLY love my eyeball and NOT the rest of me" (which Todd claims is something I would say).

So I'm sitting on my spin bike on Friday and we were almost done with class. I looked out and thought "these people are just as crazy as me" (some are even crazier). So the words of inspiration I said in the mic to help us all get through the interval were "come on...find your brand of crazy". I often say weird things when teaching - it's too hard to think before you speak when pedaling your heart out and trying to talk at the same time, especially at 6:00 am.

Then this morning on my run the girls and I were talking about it (through the shortness of breath....it was a tough one this morning) and I've decided that it's my new motto. (I can't say motto without thinking "what's a motto....nothing what's the motto with you?")

What does it mean to me? I know I'm all sorts of crazy and I'm cool with that. I come from a family of crazy peeps too. The thing is when I embrace my craziness I'm happier and as I thought about it I realize that everyone has their own "brand" of crazy. If I accept them for who they are - craziness and all - I find that I am much less judgemental. I don't want people looking at me and thinking less of me because my particular brand of crazy isn't the same as theirs. It's what makes life fun!

Kickin' it on my bed in a ponytail, no makeup, blogging with Sophie sound asleep on my lap.