Fablehaven

Just finished reading this book. This is actually the 2nd volume. Yes, I've been sucked into another series that apparently hasn't been finished yet. It's a great easy read and very imaginative. I'd place it up there with Harry Potter and Chronicles of Narnia. Lots of magic and mystery for a couple of middle school aged kids. Lots of good twists and irony. Not as predictable as you would imagine. I often get caught up in the climax really worried, not knowing how it will turn out. Who knew reading a book could also raise your heart rate? :) I happened to pick this volume up at Costco for $4.97 (paperback). I love good cheap books. I think I'll go back and just buy the series. I'm sure Brooklyn would like to read it one day.

24 days and counting . . .

I'm so excited about this move. I can't go a single day without thinking about little things like cleaning the new kitchen or HAVING CARPET. One thing I have my eye on right now is this:

I can't wait to have a new refrigerator to fill it with all the fun healthy stuff and not have to bend over backwards to see what I forgot to eat earlier in the week or to dig in my "freggie" drawers (thanks Brittney for the most awesome healthy term ever. aka fruits and veggies) Only 24 days until we get the keys and praying things go smoothly!

Here it is!

We're buying this house!

I wanted to wait until we had the inspection done before I announced it to everyone. We've been looking at houses since January mostly just to see what was out there and if we could afford something. Well, apparently we can! Closing date is Apr 16th! Stay tuned for more of our first time home buyer experiences!

ZOOOOOOO!

I'm such a bad mom. I have never taken Brooklyn to the zoo so this week I got to make up for it. On Monday I drove to Tucson with two of my sis-in-laws to visit another sis-in-law and we took all of our kids to the Reid Park Zoo. Except for Kyla. She's 14 and too cool for the zoo. :)

Rhinos

Giraffes

Monkeys

Train rides

I got to take Grant (6) and Matt (6) in my car on the way. Best moment in the car? Here it goes:

Radio: Ra ma ra ma la . . .

Grant: Lady Gaga!

Me: You know who Lady Gaga is?

Grant: Ya, my mom listens to this.

Matt: Hey, how do you make Lady Gaga cry?

Me: How Matt?

Matt: Poker Face!

(Uncontrollable laughter ensues)

We had a great time. Thanks again guys for making it such a fun day!

I think my circuits just overloaded...

Whatever Kristi's surprise is, I don't know if it can compete with this...

This is where the big nerd inside me really overpowers the medium-sized nerd I really am on the outside.

ANNOUNCEMENT!

We'll soon be making an announcement. I just thought I'd send out a teaser and let you all guess at what it could be. (If you know what it is don't ruin it for everyone else!)

Until next time . . .

OH NUTS!

Yesterday I was thinking that I have had such an amazing week! Brooklyn and I have been working on not fighting as much. When your child has an opinion about everything it's hard to get her to do simple tasks like putting on clothes, taking a bite of food, picking up a backpack, etc. So, this week has been great. I stopped nagging so much and Brooklyn stepped up her responsibilities, however simple they may be. I was telling Mike how great she's been so he suggested we go out for a treat.

When Brooklyn came home she picked ice cream so we headed to Golden Spoon. I know, frozen yogurt and ice cream are not the same things, but 5 year olds don't know that frozen yogurt is better for you and they can't tell the difference anyways. She got a Just Chocolate with rainbow sprinkles and I decided to get the Low Fat Peanut Butter Cup. All of the tables were taken inside so we walked across the parking lot to sit at the tables outside of Taco Bell. There we sat enjoying our non-ice cream. We like to sample each others and Taylor got to have some, too. It was a little windy and cold so we ate as fast as we could so we could hurry back to the car. I got to finish the last couple bites of Brooklyn's because she was too cold. So we got in the car and headed back home.

When we got home I noticed Taylor's allergies were acting up again. We just got over a bad case of seasonal allergies with her. We had to give her two breathing treatments a day with two different meds and thank goodness we got it all cleared up, but now she was showing symptoms again: flemy cough, congested, but runny nose, itchy, watery, red eyes, you know the bit. So I busted out the breathing treatment again (which I had just put away that morning). After that grueling process she didn't seem to be getting better. In fact, it was worse. She just kept crying and crying and rubbing snot all over her face and then she was sneezing like crazy! I decided to put her in the bathtub and hope the warm water would calm her down. It worked . . . for about 3 minutes, then the crying and the rubbing started again. I wrapped her up in a towel and kept her hands away from her face. I put on her favorite movie (baby einstein) and just held her until she would calm down. She was about asleep when I noticed little red bumps on her face. Then it hit me . . . Peanuts! I was sure it was an allergic reaction to the peanut butter cup flavor frozen yogurt I gave her. I unwrapped her and saw the hives spread all over her body. I got her dressed and we all rushed to Good Night Pediatrics and had the doctor tell me what to do. Luckily, nothing worse happened than the hives. Poor girl, her face was so swollen. You could even see the little bumps on her ears. The doctor prescribed a steroid medication for three days and dosage amount of benedryl and sent us on our way. After the first dose of benedryl she was already looking so much better.

Today she's doing fine. She still seems a little swollen and itchy, but I'm so glad it's not as bad as some people get it. I would hate to have to carry an epinephrin pen everywhere I go. Doctors don't do scratch tests until the child is 4 years old, but the doctor last night told me, this is most likely something she will not grow out of so getting her tested at 4 would be a good idea and to just stay away from peanuts altogether.

Now . . . how far do you think I should take this? Should I throw out the peanut butter, read labels on all of my food to make sure it wasn't made or manufactured with or near peanut oil etc, etc, etc? Or should I just be careful what I give her and let everyone else eat what they want? Anyone else have nut allergy horror stories?

Hooray for 10Ks!

Some of you may know that for the past 10 weeks I've been in training for the London's Run 10K. Well, the event was last Saturday and I did it! I can't believe I actually did it. It took a lot of hard work and motivation to go running on those cold, dark mornings. I just kept going, mostly because the fat was melting off me like butter. I was losing at least 1/2 a pound every time I ran so I didn't want to stop. For those who may be interested, here's the program I followed.

http://rununiversity.com/couchtok.html

Here are my results:

Chest: -1 inch

Waist: -1 inch

Hips: -2.25 inches

Thigh: - 1.5 inches

Total lbs lost: 20!!!!

Time for the 10K: 1hr 5min 5sec

(That's an average of less than 10 min for a mile. I started out killing myself to just do 13 min miles)

Thanks Erin for being my rock! I wouldn't have made it to the event if it weren't for you. Thanks Mike for supporting me in this even though you had to get up some mornings before you wanted to take care of the kids and for buying me awesome running shoes. Thanks Melissa and Jen for being my fitness gurus and your great advice. Thanks to all the bands on my playlist: Jimmy Eat World, All-American Rejects, Kings of Leon, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Paramore, Guster, Rascal Flatts, Savage Garden, and yes, even Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana. Only 3 more events to do this year and I'll have met my goal.

Yeah Pictures!

Sure some of these are from Christmas, but I never really posted any and some people who read this blog, I'm sure, just want to see this kids.

She never really got the hang of opening presents by herself, but she definitely had fun with the paper later.

Brooklyn's most used present was a camera we found at Walmart that was discounted on a clearance table. Score!

Taylor's recent favorite things: climbing, walking everywhere, dogs, cows, babies, and blowing kisses.

I don't know where she thinks she's going.

This was from Brooklyn's field trip to Organ Stop Pizza. All the kids I was in charge of knew me from last year. We had so much fun! It was nice being with kids again, but it was even nicer to go home when I was done.

Ah, to be a kid again . . .

This is the only baby boy project I've ever done. My husband's cousin, Julie, is having a baby boy and she chose owls do decorate his nursery. Such a cute theme! This is a little Diap-n-wipe I learned how to make not too long ago. It's easy, fun, and I use mine all the time.

That's all for now. I'd promise I would post more often, but that promise usually reverses on me and the opposite effect happens. So instead, until next time . . .

Hello?

Yes we're still here. Christmas vacation knocked us out for a while, but we're back and ready for a wonderful new year.

Before Christmas I was able to take Brooklyn ice skating for the first time. She was a little sad to find out how hard it was and that she couldn't do all the tricks she sees people do on TV, but it was a great opportunity for me to tell her, "If you want to be good at something you have to practice." I'm pretty sure that lesson won't sink in for at least a couple more years. We got around the rink 3 or 4 times (trust me, that took a while) then went home and had hot chocolate. Two days before Christmas and it was still colder inside the rink than it was outside. That's Arizona for ya.

Christmas day was spent first here at home, then at Mike's parents, then to his grandparents in Scottsdale and then to my parents for Christmas dinner. We were so wiped out it took a few days to recover. We had plenty new toys to entertain us at home. For example, Mike's big Christmas surprise a Wii! Apparently he had been hiding some money from me and paid cash for all the shopping he did. It was a Christmas miracle! Brooklyn has already beaten me at bowling, billiards, and does better than all of us at boxing! Some days she'd rather stay home and play the Wii than go play with her friends, but only if I play with her. I should savor these days now, right?

New Year's Eve started off with a bang! Mike made yummy steak and we played games for a good couple of hours with Brooklyn. It was about 10:00 when she said, "Let's watch one of our new movies!" So we watched a Wallace & Grommit episode and by the end, she was out. Maybe she'll make it next year. However, by 11:00 I called it quits too. Mike stayed up and played Zelda on the Wii and was the only one in our family to bring in the new year. Yeah for 2010!

The one thing that is taking up my time and energy right now is the 10K I'm training for. The only time I get to run is 6:00 in the morning and the event is on the 30th of this month. I'm in my 8th week of training and trying to find enough motivation to get me to the end. Soon it will be over and then I'm going to have to find motivation to maintain the running. My new year's resolution is to run 4 events this year. Wish me luck!

Some other new things:

Taylor is taking about 4 or 5 steps without help!

Taylor also got her 7th tooth this week

Brooklyn is in her 2nd half of Kindergarten and is reading some books on her own!

Mike is working beaucoup overtime which will hopefully calm down next week

I was called to be the 2nd counselor in the Primary

I got a facebook account

I'm loving being a stay at home mom!

Sounds like Christmas!

Brooklyn had her first Christmas Music Program with half of the kindergarten. The kindergarten is so big, they split it into two nights. Sorry the picture is blurry. She's right in the middle in a white shirt.

This is her teacher, Mrs. W. Brooklyn loves her so much!

Here's a little clip of the program. I wish I were back in Kindergarten!

Happy Birthday Big Girl!

I know I'm a little late on posting about her birthday. It was Nov. 25th. Poor girl is going to have to succumb to the holiday rush. Hopefully we won't forget to celebrate her birthday altogether.

She got lots of fun things, especially this cute tutu made by Aunt Holly. She likes to wear it while she's playing by herself.

The funniest part was both grandma's gave her the same birthday card without even knowing it.

Silly grandmas.

A little shy at first . . .

. . . then she got the hang of it.

Happy Birthday little monkey! Hopefully you'll be walking by New Year's!

What's the weirdest thing you've eaten?

This is mine...

http://bit.ly/7gKn4P

It would be awesome if the 4 people who actually read this blog leave a comment in answer to the title question: What's the weirdest thing you've eaten? That way we can all join the disgusting fun.

I know Mike Rogan is doing pretty well already with chocolate covered scorpions. What else you got?

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Mike's Christmas List (updated)

So this is mostly for Kristi and other family but gifts will humbly be accepted from all sources/persons.

First and Foremost:
A Guitar Center Gift Card (link). This is my "happy place". My wife has JoAnn, I have Guitar Center.


MXR Carbon Copy pedal (or another ANALOG delay):
















Dress Socks:









I'm one of the few people who likes socks for Christmas. A lot of mine have holes and that stinks. I really would like some darker grey or black (argyle is always a good thing) and brown (not tan).

Graphics Tablet:









Since my degree program requires a lot of art on the computer, a tablet would just make everything easier and more natural.


The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (for Nintendo DS):













I love all the Zelda games and the DS has not disappointed thus far.




Swedish Fish:












A Christmas classic for me. They're pretty much my favorite!!

NOTE: I am aware that some of these items are expensive. It is, after all, a "wish" list. It is not a "what can a particular person afford" list. I'm not expecting anything, just wishing.

UPDATE:


I totally forgot to mention a few other things.

-Cutco Hardy Slicer (link)
-A cheap bass guitar
-Dinner with my dad (his treat)





p.s. - I just have to complain for a minute about how much I hate the fact that every time you add a picture to a post it puts it at the top and it totally messes up the rest of the formatting. GOSH!!

All I want for Christmas . . .

For those of you who have drawn my name for Christmas, or my husband, or for whoever wants to buy me stuff, here is my wish list in no particular order:

Cuisinart Elite Collection 4-cup Chopper Grinder. Yes is has to be this exact one, color and everything. Unless you can find another 4 cup food processor with better reviews and all the same features. Lots of research has gone into this, can you tell.

The Body Bug Calorie Counter. I'm on a real health kick right now and could totally use one of these. It would be easier for me to keep track of my input and output.

I need a beautiful picture of the temple to hang in my home.

I would love a digital kitchen timer. I can't depend on my winding timer to do the job for 2 minutes and I can't always use my microwave timer, especially when I'm microwaving something.

I need this movie so I can cry every time Judy Garland sings "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

Really anything Bill Cosby that I can watch or listen to would be great. He's just a part of my childhood that I could relive over and over again.

SMOOTH AWAY! I'm too chicken to buy this for myself, but I want to try it. Every time I shave I still end up bumpy and I think it's because of the razors I use. Every once and a while I get lucky, but this seems like it would work every time.

We always have oranges at christmas and nothing to peel them with so I go through about 3 weeks of winter with orange finger nails. This would definitely solve my problem.

I would also willingly accept gift cards to the following places:

Ross

Target

Home Depot

JoAnn

Harkins

Down East Basics

IKEA

Happy Holidays!

Finally!

Whatever was wrong with our camera (or computer) Mike found a way around it and I can finally post pictures. Sad to say, but we really don't have as much as some people do in a 3 month hiatus, but they are memories none the less. Welcome back girls to the world wide web. We got them matching monkey pajamas. We call both of our girls monkeys so it's only appropriate.

Could her eyes be any bluer? (Bluer? is that a word?)

This is our trip to Greer from yes, way back at the end of August. We got to go fishing in Grandpa Val's boat. Mike caught a fish, Brooklyn caught a fish, and yet again, I didn't catch anything. Oh well, maybe next year.

Too bad Taylor couldn't come with us on the boat. I'm sure she had fun with grandma and grandpa anyways.
These whoppers were caught by Mike's dad. Sorry you didn't win the contest this year. If I remember correctly they were just over 18 inches long. Good Job!
We ate here one day for lunch out on a deck. The weather was so beautiful, much like we're experiencing now. I think the high that day in the valley was in the 110's. I love this yearly get-a-way.

Mike thought he would be funny and feed Taylor some pickles. She actually wanted more!

On to Halloween! I was an angel (Walmart special!) Brooklyn was a cat and Taylor was a pig.

Mike got bundled up and then decided he looked like a Harvard Professor or Robert Langdon. Nice cop out!

Unfortunately those are all the highlights from our camera. We're not that big on taking pictures, but we have fun. We've had a lot to learn in the last few months. We actually went through a month of unemployment which was stressful, but I feel it brought us together and gave us confidence that we can make it through hard times. Here are a few tidbits of things I learned about the "unemployment experience."

1. First thing you do after losing your job: file for unemployment.

2. Lower your bills to as little as possible.

3. Plan all of your meals and only shop for that. Don't buy anything that's not on the list even if it's on sale. The food bank every Friday has a special to buy $40 worth of food for only $15.

4. Soup and spaghetti goes a long way.

5. Learn to make bread.

6. Powdered milk doesn't taste any different in food you have to cook or bake. Instead of buying 2 gallons per week, we went down to 1 gallon per 2 weeks.

7. Pay tithing.

8. Use your food storage

9. Dip into savings

10. The only other purchases you need to make (after bills) are for food and gas.

11. Watch your movies rather than rent.

12. Don't snack so much and only eat serving sizes. (Also a good weight loss tip!)

13. Being angry doesn't help anything.

14. Being happy helps everything.

15. Pray pray pray

I'm so grateful for the gospel and it's teachings of provident living. We may not need our food storage or savings for natural disasters, but they sure are helpful during financial disasters. So many people are going through a difficult time in this economy. We were very lucky and blessed to have only gone 1 month without employment. I know that if we trust in Heavenly Father in everything, he will help us as long as we are doing everything we can to help ourselves. We have to show him we are willing to work for the things we want and not expect them to be handed over to us. Mike thinks I'm stubborn and won't ask for help, but I know through challenging ourselves to do hard things on our own we come out stronger. I have learned to ask for help when it's really needed. We were very blessed to have gone through this time with out asking for money from family or going into any credit card debt. Number one lesson learned: Always save and prepare for whatever lies ahead.

My apologies . . .

I'm so sorry to everyone for not updating my blog recently with the oh-so-cute and adorable pictures of my beautiful daughters. Unfortunately, our camera is refusing to upload any recent pictures so I have nothing real fun to post. Sure I could tell you everything we've been doing, but it just is never enough unless you have pictures to prove it. I could tell you about our trip to Paris, but you wouldn't believe me unless I had pictures. (which you shouldn't believe be because we haven't been to Paris, are you kidding me? In this economy?) As soon as we have our "recent" pictures uploaded there will be a gia-normous pic post to catch everyone up. Thanks for understanding!

K-Bomb

(Post inspired by our FHE this week. Read about it HERE.)

Mary Kay Product at 50% off!

Confession . . . I am a Mary Kay consultant, but I'm really doing it for the discount. I actually signed up about 2 or 3 years ago (sad that I don't even remember) and I love everything they have and it really does what it says it does. However, because I'm not the best sales person I have some left over inventory I'm trying to get rid of. Here's a list of those products and the discounted price. If you click on the item it's linked to the Mary Kay website and will give you a description of the product. Comment on what you would like and leave your email address so I can contact you on how I can get you your product, even if you're out of town! Thanks! And spread the word!

Cellu-Shape Contouring System - $22.50

Satin Hands Set - $15

Satin Lips Set - $9

Velocity Perfume - $14

Timewise Day Solution - $15

Timewise Night Solution - $15

Velocity Cleanser - $5

Velocity Moisturizer - $6

Blemish Control Toner - $6.50

Acne Treatment Gel - $3.50

Indulge Soothing Eye Gel - $7.50

Firming Eye Cream - $15

Age-fighting Eye Cream - $13

Eye Primer - $6

Ivory Concealer - $5

Facial Highlight Pen - $9

(Shade 2)

Medium Coverage Foundation - $7

(Ivory 200, 204 Beige 304, 305)

Lip Gloss - $6.50

(Berry Sparkle, Sweet Raisin, Beach Bronze, Pink Diamonds)

Lip Stick - $6.50

(Apple Berry, Mocha Freeze, Apricot Glaze)

Lip Liner - $5

(coral, dusty pink, neutral)

Cheek Color - $5

(Desert Bloom, it's discontinued, but it looks like Sunny Spice)

Eye Color - $3.25

(Vintage Gold, Copper Beach/now Amber Blaze, Double Espresso/now Espresso, Hazelnut)

If there is something not on this list but you would like, let me know. I'll be putting an order in at the end of October. Get 'em now while they're hot!

Happy Birthday Handsome!

Happy birthday to my one true love! We've known each other for over 10 years and I love you more each day. I'm so lucky to have you forever! You're my best friend and the best father to our little girls. I love you so much. Have a Happy Happy Birthday!

(P.S. Don't drive the blimp!)