"Great Clips"...... NOT!

Cutting Hair is a talent, either you have or you don't. I realize stylists have trained long and hard for their license, but just because you have one doesn't necessarily mean you should practice what you trained to do. Let me tell why.....

We took the 4 younger kids to get haircuts yesterday because I wasn't feeling too good. The kids were excited to have their hair cut for the 1st time by a "PROFESSIONAL HAIR STYLISTS." They were anticipating how handsome/beautiful they would all look AFTER the "PROFESSIONAL STYLISTS" were done with their hair.

Well, 15-min. after walkin in to Great Clips, we walked out - I kid you not! And man did my kids hair look amazing! NOT!

When asked if they liked it, they said, "Mom, will you cut our hair next time?" This goes to show you that a license might give you the knowledge, but not necessarily the skills or talent.

I have wanted to go to cosmetology school since I was in 2nd grade. I was a major tomboy growing up, never playing with dolls except only if I could do their hair. My younger sister was the one to play with dolls, and I would secretly take her dolls, sit back, look at their face shape, skin color, ect, and think of what type of hair style would look good on them, then.... CHOP! off came the hair. In 2nd grade I wasn't too good of a stylist, and BARBIE usually ended up being bald or had a very short crew cut. Today though, I do have to admit, I am pretty good with a pair of scissors and clippers.

Next time my kids need hair cuts, I'll put my sick feelings aside and do it myself, saving myself 15-min., and the $45 dollars I had to dish out.

"Holy Coolness Batman - IT'S A LUNAR ECLIPSE!"

I'm sure most of you have better pictures of the Lunar Eclipse that took place last nigt, but I'm still trying to figure out my camera and how it works, so give me a break - sheez!

It's pretty cool to witness a lunar eclipse, even when the temperatures are in the high teens, and your bare feet are frozen to the sidewalk. This was our case while we watched for moments at a time. I didn't have the patience nor enough thermal underwear to allow me to watch the entire thing, but we did check back from time to time to see the progression.

The kids, especially Stoney, thought it was pretty cool! When we called Gunner & Peity to come look at it, they simply looked out the window, said, in a rather dull tone, "Oh, cool," then quickly ran back to what they were doing. I mean, my gosh, couldn't they at least act like it's the coolest thing they've ever seen and want to stay up all night watching the entire movement of the eclipse? What went wrong in my parenting?

From what I read on the internet yesterday, the next Lunar Eclipse will happen again in 2010 - man will I be old!

"GREAT"..... A VISIT FROM FRIENDS!

So this past weekend ROCKED! We were most excited because some of our bestest friends, Jane (aka Janey Waney) & Emily Bartholomew (aka Smellimy Barf all over you) came all the way from Colorado to spend President's Day Weekend with us! Actully, just Emily came from Colorado, Jane is in her 2nd semester at LDS Business College. Brett & I basically think of them as our adopted daughters, since while we lived in Colorado our families were together ALL THE TIME!

Cassidey loved seeing her bestest buddy - "M"! These two girls are two peas in a pod. I swear they were split from the same mold in heaven because they are exactly alike. The other kids couldn't get enough of jumping on them (Peity), hugging them (again Peity), kissing them (Gunner), and pretty much annoying them to DEATH (and again Peity)! They probably left here saying, "Holy Crap - I won't be visiting again any time soon!"

During the weekend we went to see Spiderwick Chronicles (http://www.spiderwickchronicles.com/)! It was AWESOME! It was nonstop action from start to finish, and my kids LOVED IT! It was a bit scarry at times, and I thought for sure my kids would wake up with nightmares, but they didn't, and they said, "It wasn't too scarry for me, Mom!" We had a great time!

Then it was off to The Cache Valley Fun Park, it's like Ghettoville Boondocks, only with indoor activities only, like roller skating, a HUGE soft play area with a wicked slide, the usual video games that spit out tickets and and never work, Lazer Tag - everyone's favorite that night, and bowling, as well as the usual greasy pizza. It was fun for the most part, especially since I didn't come home with too bad of a head ache from the loud music blasting the entire time - HOLY COW! I just realized I've turned OLD!

The rest of the time, we just hung out, got our groove on playing, Dance Dance Revolution on the Wii, and just plain having a great time together. The weekend went too fast because before we knew it, Monday had arrived and we were heading to the airport to drop off Emily, and take Jane to her apartment.

We miss the Bartholomews! (excuse me while I blow my nose and wipe up the tears spilling out of my eyes.) They are our bestest buddies, and wish we could see them more. I told them before we moved to Utah that I was going to find a way to get them to move out here, and I have been trying really hard (any body know of a great paying job in the cheese business here in Cache Valley?)

Anyway, just wanted to share a few pictures and a video of the awesome girls! We miss you Janey Waney & Smellimy Barf all over you!

AMAZING Abstract Photography & NEWS REPORTING!

Oh our ever-so adventerous Peity, who never seems to be at a loss for words, or energy. She has fallen in love with my camera! When ever I can't find her, it's usually because she is off somewhere taking pictures of whatever seems to catch her eye, or what ever seem to have the "right light", which is usually herself. This also goes for video taping. If she can get an audience, or even if she can't, it doesn't matter to her, cause on goes the camera and what ever she can think of, she say or do.

When I first got my camera, I was keeping all the pictures she took, because well hello, it's my child using her imagination and being creative, plus isn't that what a parent is suppose to do, -to treasure, keep and capture ANYTHING their child EVER does, so that when the child reaches the age of maturity you can proudly pass on the 103 boxes of "TREASURES" so that it can now take up room in their own storage closet?

Well, I finally had to take a stand when each time I went to take a picture of a memorous occasion all the memory on my camera had been used up with over 1000 pictures and videos of Peighton talking, Peighton Singing, Peighton's Blanket's, Peighton's stuffed animals, Peighton's shoe, Peighton's hair accessories, Peighton's eye, Peighton's teeth...... Are you starting to get the picture?

I think she really has a knack for photography, she really is quite good. She loves to use different angles, and things. I thought I'd share a few picture's and video that she took the other day. She was really on a role, because in just one day - actually, in a matter of 1 hour, she had taken over 65 pictures and 22 video clippings. So to narrow it down to these was quite hard. By the way, I ended up keeping I think 8 of her pictures and 4 of her video clippings (which 3 of them were the recording of Nickelodian's Fairly Odd Parents - Fairly Odd Baby! -can I be sued for breaking copyright?

With that said, Peighton keeps our life exciting and energized. For someone so tiny to have so much energy is amazing and I can't imagine what our life or family would be like without our Little Princess Pei Pei!

ENJOY!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

HOW DO "i" LOVE THEE? LET "me" COUNT THE WAYS!

1. Could life be any more NORMAL without a CRAZY, HECTIC MORNING!

2. Waiting until VALENTINES EVE to write our VALENTINES!

3. Quickly constucting a MILK JUG VALENTINES Card Holder for someone because the one they made doesn't look as good as their brothers!

4. Letting your children decide how they want their HAIR DONE for their VALENTINES DAY TEA PARTY. Then sitting back and quietly watch as they pose in the mirror, admiring how BEAUTIFUL or HANDSOME they look!

5. Reading VALENTINE BOOKS to your kids, making up voices and phrases with what they think the pictures should say, and CHERISHING THEIR GIGGLES when this is done!

6. Watching your teenager exciteably HELP their younger SIBLINGS WRITE their VALENTINES CARDS, but passing up the chance to do their own because, "I'm way to old to make any STUPID Valentines CARDS!"

7. Waiting with anticipation for kids to BURST through the door, EXCITED about showing you all their VALENTINES LOOT they pulled off from their classmates.

8. Looking at the aftermath of the VALENTINES DAY WHIRLWIND! (candy wrappers, ripped paper, sticky -tried but didn't like- candy, etc. you get the drift)

9. All the "OOOOOOing & AHHHHHHing" a parent gets to do over each "ORIGINAL" VALENTINE.

10. Secretly WATCHING your kids as they surround the COMPUTER watching their favorite YouTube country videos, as they PROMIS they are really doing their homework. (OOOO, BUSTED!)

11. Receiving a PHONE CALL from your Lovey Dovey Tenderoni... your Honey Bunches of Oats! He spends the next 10-min. provessing his LOVE for you!

12. As the day winds down, being able to look around, and see all that VALENTINES DAY represents, and most importantly, how "head-over-heals in LOVE!" I am with 6 beautiful, handsome, wonderfully crazy people!

Hope your VALENTINES Day was as lovely as mine, and that you found all the LOVE you deserve!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

LOOK WHO'S 74-YEARS YOUNG!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMACITA!

Although this post is 4-days late, I wanted to wish an INCREDIBLE WOMAN a wonderful birthday! She is turning


74-years young! Here's just a few of this amazing woman's accomplishments, as well as the Top 10 things I have learned from my mom (if I listed them all, you would be here all day & night).

Mom's Accomplishments (just to name a few):

• Left her native home of France at the age of 17 to travel to Salt Lake City to be closer to "The Church."
• Mother to 9 Children, 28 Grand Children, and 7 Great-Grand Children!
• Married to her Sweetheart for 45 years! (Her sweatheart is preparing their mansion above!)
• Has traveled the world extensively!
• Supported 7 children on a secretaries salary while taking care of her disabled sweetheart for 21-years!
• Served an 18-month mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as a single sister on the island of Fiji!
• Traveled to many different Wards, Schools, Civic Clubs, etc., sharing her incredible life's story and her conversion story to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
• Her incredible faith and strength in the gospel and in our Savior, Jesus Christ!

Top 10 Things I Gained from my Mom:

1. Be proud of our Country and the English Language!
2. A cluttered home is a loving home! (don't let scrubbing your floors get in the way of playing with your kids!)
3. Don't stress over the small stuff!
4. My Name! Something I have been proud of all my life!
5. Chocolate Milk & Toast is a great meal anytime of the day!
6. Patieence is a virtue!
7. Chocolate makes everything better!
8. Never settle for anything less than being treated like a Queen! AND... Always remember, You & your spose are a TEAM!
9. Having a sense of humor helps get you through life!
10. No matter what happens, NEVER FORGET TO PRAY! God is ALWAYS there for you!

Thank you for always being there, for being one of the greatest examples throughout my life, for teaching me forgiveness and unconditional love, for being my friend, and most of all for being my Mom! You have made me the woman I am today. I LOVE YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMACITA!

TROUBLESOME TOOTHACHE & ANTIBIOTICS!

To say we've had a restful last couple of days would be a lie. Stoney has had a bad toothache since Friday, and has woke either Brett or myself up each night crying and needing medicine. When you're only getting a few hours a sleep a night it makes for long days but you sure hate to see you kid in pain - not fun.

We were finally able to get him into the dentist yesterday. It was a pediatric dentist and you would have thought we walked into the kids fun center. There were HUGE excercise balls all over the place, kids music, "love seats" the kids could fall and climb on. It was kid heaven! I had Peity & Brody with me so while Stoney was being seen, the dental assistants took them into the "theater room" where they got to watch a movie, color, and just plain have a great time! They also were given cookie cutters and a recipe for sugar cookies since valentines day was coming up. They all thought they had died and gone to heaven. That is until Stoney was seen by the dentist.

One poke on his tooth and gum and Stoney was thrown for a painful loop. He had an abcess on a tooth that had a filling on it. The dentist said it needed to come out but that they had to get on top of the infection first. He prescribed antibiotics and come Tylenol w/Codeine - The parents drug of choice for their kids if they want to get some sleep.

Stoney was feeling bummed because today the 4th graders at his school were all leaving to go skiing at Beaver Mtn. Stoney was especially excited because his dad was going to be one of the chaperones and Stoney would have hated to miss out. We asked the dentist the possibility of him going skiing and he said it would be a good chance, especially if he could get a full three doses of antibiotic and pain med in him. Stoney was ELATED!

We had a rough day yesterday, and the 1st dose of pain med's actually made him sick and he puked. But it actually was what he needed. He was able to eat and keep things down after that, and this morning he woke up a different kid. He got all his things ready and off to Beaver Mtn. my two rugged men went. Excited as little kids. Boy what a difference some sleep and antibiotics do. Now we'll see how he does next week when he gets 3 teeth pulled?

HAVE YOU EVER HAD A YOGURT GOATEE?

So Gunner is our my one kid who no matter how hard he tries he can't seem to eat without making a mess. You can always tell which spot is Gunner's because there is food not only all over the table but on his chair and all over the floor, AND usually it's all over his face and hands as well.

Today, Gunner came home from school and wanted his after school snack. He loves yogurt! At one time he was eating like a normal kid, and next thing I know he had suddenly grew a yogurt goatee! I'm not quite sure how he accomplished this most amazing feat but this is a normal look for him after a meal.

Gunner's New Years Resolution was to get through a meal without looking like he ate. Poor thing, he's tried so hard, but he hasnt' quite accomplished it yet. But I'm not too worried cause I would really miss seeing his "crumb face" everyday.

For dinner we're having potatoes & gravy - I wonder what his face is going to look like tonight. At least I know he won't go hungry later on. All he has to do is lick his face and he'll have a whole new meal. How GREAT is that!

BATHING BEAUTIES & STORY TELLING

So, even though this is posted on the same day as our our very first ever blog post, I had to share these pictures, and video clips, as they were just too darn precious to leave in the dark realms of my camera. Maybe with this blog, I will use my camera more and share pictures and clips of a day in the life of my proSperity. Hey, it could happen.

Peity & Brody took their weekly bath (just kidding, it's their bi-weekly bathtime :o)). Peity is our princess so her hair has to be just right. Everytime she gets out of the tub she has to wrap her head in the "after-bath turban." Check out those eyes man!

Later on, as I was completely consumed and reveling in the opportunity that we now have internet, and as I was trying to make this Blog spot fabulously beautiful, Peity & Brody were watching "Super Why," one of my FAVORITE kids shows ever (really)! Peity, as you will see, tries to give her rendition of "The Tortoise & the Hair" but gets a little sidetracked as she becomes completely engrossed and captivated in how "Princess Pea" is telling it. Well, I don't need to tell you, you can see for your self. Seeing life thru the eyes of a child... PRICELESS!

Shout Praise to the Internet God!

WE HAVE INTERNET!!!!!!

Can it be? We have been without internet access for 7-weeks now, and as of 6:48 pm last night, we have now reached civilization. I swear, it takes going without the internet to make you realize how much your feel like a caveman. I never realized how much I used the internet until we were unable to access it.

Since our move to Utah back in December, our whole "transferring of services" has been nothing but a nightmare. For those of you who truly know our family, we have moved a gazillion times, and within those gazillion times we have never had a problem transferring our utilities, such as phone, television, heating, electricity, etc. Well, this goes to show you never say never cause as soon as you do all heck breaks loose.

The worst of our service transfers has come thru Qwest. To save you from a massively long explanation, just know that we cancelled many of our "bundled services" with them and looked else where. And now, we are in the land of the living again.

All I can say for today is... Yeah for the internet! I'm going to be vegging in front of the computer all day, catching up on all the "surfing" I've been missing for 51-days!