Mad Skills

This morning I made eggs for breakfast. Ken and Nicole like them scrambled. Matthew and I like them pokey (over easy with a soft center).

We were eating our eggs and toast when Matthew said, 'Mom, can you cut up my eggs? You have mad cutting skills.'

What a great start to the day!!
***
There will be more to come tomorrow. In my paper journal, I usually don't do as well on the weekends, so I'm going to allow myself the same slacker quality here. I'll end with this little quote I heard once...

Marjorie Hinckley once said, 'I've made it a goal to read a chapter out of each of the standard works everyday. I'm on day 5 and so far I'm only 3 days behind.' I LOVE HER!

Confession Time

Lets face it. Not every journal is completely full of gratitude. Tonight it's time for some confesssions. Welcome to my therapy session

1. I yell too much. WAY TOO MUCH. My throat hurts right now. (it's been a bad night)
2. I ate a whole box of Shortbread Girl Scout Cookies today. (After I yelled so much my throat started hurting.)
3. My bedroom is REALLY messy.
4. Today I ignored my kids and cut out quilt blocks. (Ignoring them is proably why I was so annoyed and ended up shouting. UG).(Did I really need to say probably in the last sentence? UG UG!)
5. It's time to log off and talk to Heavenly Father.

The Day Previously Called TOMORROW.

1. I LOVE MY CROCKPOT! I really enjoy coming home from work/church or where ever, knowing that dinner is done. Such was the case tonight. I made swiss chicken. Here is the recipe...

6 Chicken Breasts/Thighs
12 Slices of Swiss Cheese
1 Small Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/4 C Milk
1 Box Stovetop--you pick the flavor, I use Chicken
1 Stick of Butter

Spray your crock pot with cooking spray. Place the chicken into the crockpot. Top with slices of swiss cheese. Mix together the soup and milk, pour over chicken and cheese. Pour stuffing mix over the top of the soup/ DO NOT MAKE THE STUFFING...POUR IT ON DRY. Melt stick of butter, and pour over the stuffing. Cook on High for 4-6 hours, Low for 6-8.

I was worried that the stuffing was going to be crunchy, but the condensation from the crockpot moistened the stuffing, AND even my kids like this dish.

Let me know if you try it and if your family liked it.

2. I LOVE LOVE Musicals. Right now in music we are watching the movie Annie. It's the old one that came out with I was a little girl, staring Carol Burnett. Other favorites include:
The Music Man (I prefer the version with Matthew Broderick and Kristen Chenoweth)
The Sound of Music
Mamma Mia--broadway version is better than the movie, but I LOVE the movie!!
Wicked ( MOST FAVORITE!!)
Phantom of the Opera...ditto from Mamma Mia
I could keep going, but these are probably my top 6 including Annie.

I saw the Lion King in October. I love the disney movie, I didn't actually love the show.

If you want to know what any of them are about, I suggest wikipedia. Also, as a side note, permanent red marker DOES come out of blonde hair.

3. My kids have been in bed since 7:05. Do I need to explain more?

4, I've started taking a Creative Writing Class through BYU Independant Study. It is super exciting and fun. I love being a student!!

5. Lately I've come into contact with a couple of my cousins from my Dad's side of the family. One of them I met once when I was 5 and she was a baby. The other one--her little sister, I've never actually met. I fell blessed to get to know family.

I also have 'One Good Gripe'

Our family is boring right now! Nothing is going on that is even remotely blogworthy, let alone worth taking a picture. It stinks!! My goal this weekend is to find a place that we can go and get some good pictures. Stay tuned. ps, 15 more days until SpRiNg BrEaK!!

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Sorry for all my typos! I reread each post, post it, then ALWAYS end up editing it again. Later I still find mistakes. Thanks for putting up with it!

YESTERDAY...(Happy 6th Birthday Mark! I hope you had a good day! I love you!)

1. The Relief Society Book Club. Okay, I attend the RS Book Club once a month. However, I don't always read the book. I really go for the social aspect. (is this so surprising to you?) Last night and the one that was last month was held in the same home. The sister that hosts is a widow and lives alone. She is such an inspiration to me. For the last 2 months, after the club has officially ended, my friend Liz and I stay and visit with this sister. We talk about church topics, our goals/plans, projects we are working on, etc. Each time I talk to her, both at church and at the book club, I feel like I've had a therapy session. Last night was no different. She is so encouraging and positive. I LOVE the time I get to spend with her.

2. Program Practices. The first and second graders had their program last night. It was about zoo animals. Watching them put it together over the last 2 months has been a little bit more than stressful. I've enjoyed it more than the music teacher though, because my job was to keep my 4 severely ADHD kids in line while she taught all the little kiddos songs that they never did actually learn very well. Like all programs though, those kids pulled it all together for their parents and it turned out really cute. Watching the dress rehearsal at the HS Auditorium yesterday afternoon made me think of the Sunday before each Primary Program. Luckily the kids pulled it all together then too.

3. Complainers at the movies. Yesterday Ken and I went to see the movie, 'New in Town'. It was kind of cute, kind of dumb humor, but I'm a fan of Harry Connick Jr, so I LOVED it! There were these old women in line to see another movie and one woman was complaining about everything. I was so excited to be on a date with my husband, without the kids, I didn't care that our small town theater didn't open until 3 minutes after our movie was supposed to start. At one point she actually told the poor girl getting our soda and popcorn, 'things like this never happen to me!' We'd been chatting a little bit back and forth, and when she said that I told her, 'don't think of it has happening to you, this is something that you get to experience!' She ended up complaining so much about how big her soda and popcorn was that I offered to carry it to her seat for her. I thought the girl behind the counter was going to cry. The lady accepted my offer then got quiet. When I got to the theater that our movie was in, I was thankful that we weren't in a hurry and I didn't feel like a victim because our movie started 10 minutes late.

4. Kids in my bed. I like it when I go to bed and one of the kids is keeping Ken's spot warm. I like to watch them sleep and to talk to them when they're sleeping. It cracks me up because sometimes they answer and it doesn't make any sense. I guess, they give me one more smile right before I go to sleep. There is no better way to end the day.

5. Mason Jars. We drink our water out of mason jars ALOT. At one point that is all we had. I got rid of a bunch of them when I bought glasses, but the jars just keep showing up. I love to drink a while jar of water right before bed. I think I like it so much because it feels like I'm breaking some rule. lol

TODAY:

Today I was helping a new boy in our class with his number recognition. We were working on numbers 2 and 3. I would show him an index card with the #3 written on it, and ask him what it was. Then I'd show him #2 and ask him what it was. We would go back and forth with these 2 numbers, and it went on for about 3 minutes. He never got it right one time. My first thing today that I'm thankful for is that my kids have the ability to remember things and they are right on track for their grade levels. This little boy will be 10 in 3 weeks.

2. Red Sharpee Markers. A 2nd grade girl colored her beautiful blonde hair with a red marker today. ALL OF IT! She watch Annie in music and liked the color red. I'll let you know tomorrow if it came out.

3. When I was a senior in HS I got a job at Fred Meyer (A Grocery Store) in the deli. I worked there until I got pregnant with Nicole. While I was working there, a guy named Brian was hired. HE WAS CRAZY!! One time he was working the salad case and a lady came up and asked for a sample of potato salad. Brian took the big salad spoon used to scoop large amounts of salad into containers and attempted to put a Tbsp of potato salad into one of those little sample cups--they look kind of like a sacrament cup. When he handed the lady her messy sample, she took her small spoon and scooped out a taste. Part of it fell off the spoon and landed on the glass. Brian was watching her and when the food dropped on the case, he scoweled at her and said, 'You're a Star!' It was not in a nice voice. Then he took his dirty rag and instead of wiping up the mess on the glass case, he smeared it everywhere.

I remembered that story tonight. It made me laugh.

4. Jewelry. I don't really have a reason. I just LOVE it! I wore my favorite necklace and earrings today and it made me happy.

5. A few of you will remember my post about our family scripture study a few weeks back. Click here if you need a refresher. Matthew asked a random question that was completly off subject and we ended our study that night. The answer to Matthew's questions is.. TODAY! Poor Animal. Today He got a haircut and was robbed of his manhood too.

TOMORROW...

It's too bad I don't know already or I'd prepay a journal entry.

Have a good night! Thank for reading.

I'll do it tomorrow...

Is it bad that on day 3 of my resolution to write 5 things a day, I feel too tired and promise to write them tomorrow? Does that mean that tomorrow I owe 10?

I guess those are answers I'll have to come up with tomorrow because I'm too tired.

Welcome to the journal of Dedra Charlet Anderson Cheney!!! UG!

I stole a tag. You can have it too...if you want it!

I saw this tag on my Sister's Sister-in-law's blog. (did you get that?) It is the 6th picture from the 6th album on my pictures. She didn't tag anyone, but I decided to look and see what came up. If I liked the picture, I'd copy her. If I didn't, I'd just enjoy the picture she posted. I LOVE this picture!

It is Nicole with 5 of her cousins, my sister Heather's girls. (different sister than mentioned previously.)

They were doing 'jump shots' in my Mom and Dad's front yard in Bremerton, last month.

In order from left to right: Mikaela, Alexa, Courtney, Kelsey, Nicole and Caitlin.

Nicole, The Friend, Text Messaging, Visiting Teaching and the Sister Missionaries...

Me: Colie, do you know I love you?
Nicole: sigh, yes.
Me: How do you know?
Nicole: Because you're my parent...sounding a little annoyed to be having this conversation.
Me: But how do you know that I love you?
(This is my secret way of checking with my kids to see if I'm doing a good job...an evaluation is you will...)
Nicole: Because you fix my hair and play games with me.
Me: What kind of games do you like to play?
Nicole: (In a really loud voice that startled me) BOOM-O!!
Me: I love Boom-o too.
Nicole: I WANT TO MARRY BOOM-O!!!
(yikes!)
I laughed, she laughed, and then she asked me if I wanted to marry Boom-o too. We'll talk about polygamy and also inanimate objects another time...


That conversation will count as one thing that I am thankful for today.


#2. Family Home Evening. (FHE) Tonight I taught the lesson. It was a copycat of a sharing time I did a long time ago when we were living in Oregon. I basically did a book review of The Friend Magazine. I went almost page for page and explained how the magazine was organized, what kinds of activities they had in it and the talks. I showed them that were lessons that matched what Ken and I are learning in Relief Society/Priesthood Meeting. Of course I reminded them of the hidden CTR ring. I was so glad that we went over it because they both wanted to read it when we were done. I'd buy 2 subscriptions if they would use it. I've felt lately that I'm the only one who reads in and I really want Nicole and Matthew to learn from it also.


I'm actually going to copy something I learned from the same ward in Oregon. Each month the youth were asked to read the magazine cover to cover...they read the New Era. Then they would have a New Era Challenge (if I remember correctly. I was never in YW there so this is all from eavesdropping. Maybe not the best source.) They would be in 2 teams...the Young Men and the Young Women. They would be asked questions that they had read about in the month’s issue. Also if I remember correctly, the losers brought refreshments to the next fireside. At least that is how I remember. If anyone is reading this and sees I have the facts wrong, please correct them.


My point is that I'm going to do this same thing with my kids each month to review the magazine and maybe give them some incentive to READ IT!


3. Today when I was at Wal-Mart* grocery shopping, I saw something funny that reminded me of my friend. I was able to tell her about it because I had my cell phone with me. I think #3 will be text messaging. I LOVE IT!


4. Visiting Teaching. I went yesterday. I could have added that to yesterday's list as #s 6-10. Today I'm adding it because it's been on my mind all day. I just got a new route and I LOVE IT! I enjoyed my old route too, this one is just a lot closer to home and I also enjoy change. My companion--who was baptized less than 6 months ago--is awesome! I feel overwhelmed that they chose me to teach her how to VT, but also thankful that I will be able to get to know her better.


5. The Sister Missionaries. I saw them at Wal-Mart* today. I ran into them 3 or 4 times when I in different parts of the store and each time they made me smile. I'm thankful we have female missionaries. They are an excellent example to Nicole and to me as well.


*2 good things happened at Wal-Mart today. I'm thankful for each experience, but I can't see myself actually being grateful for Wal-Mart. Just incase you were wondering...

Writing in a Journal

I am not consistant with MANY things in my life. I do good reading my scriptures for a while, then I take a month off. I remember to pray morning at night and then all the sudden I realize it's been a couple of days since I kneeled down for a formal prayer. My list could go on, but I'm not really in the mood to tell you all the things I'm bad at. I like having friends! I will say that right now my journal entried leave alot to be desired. That being said, I have decided that I am going to record 5 things everyday that I'm thankful. For some time now, I have been blessed with a thankful heart. Don't get me wrong, I can always give you one good gripe if you want one, but in the grand sceme of things, I think I have it pretty easy and I'm thankful that I can see that! So enough of this explanation....

5 things I am grateful for...from Today.

1. Celtic Thunder. I LOVE this group and all their music. There isn't a song on the 2 disk set that doesn't stir emotions. I've listened to it most of the day. If you want a copy of it, I'd love to share. Just let me know.

2.Large hot water heaters. This morning all 4 of us showered. Typically the kids take showers/baths at night so all 4 of us don't have to in the morning. This morning when it was my turn I thought back to when I was growing up in a family of 10. I would get up as early as I could on Sundays and take a bath, sometimes--most times filling up the tub up as high as I could without flooding the bathroom. I never thought of everyone else until someone was jumping in last minute and didn't have enough hot water...if I remember right, that would have been my Mom. Now that almost everyone has moved out of their house, they have a bigger water heater. lol

3.Personal Revelation. Several times today thoughts have come to my mind--answers to my prayers. I'm thankful that each time a pen and paper was close by so I could right those thoughts down. I'm thankful for my life today and so excited for my future!

4.The game Boom-o. I've played it alot today with my kids. Never heard of it? You need to own it. It is probably sold never to Phase 10 and Uno.

5. Ken. Every Sunday Ken is gone most of the day. (This is not the part I'm thankful for.) It's 9:30 and he still hasn't been home from Church. He is the EQ Pres, and he goes and visits people all day on Sundays. Sometimes he goes with one of his counselors, sometimes a member of the Stake Presidency or a High Councilman. But he always goes. I'm thankful to him for magnifying his calling because it blesses our family so much.

Self-fulfilling Prophesy

I believe in Self-fulfilling Prophecy.

A few examples are...

I said I could go to school, do very little work, and graduate...I DID!! (Only by LARGE miracles and by bribing my teachers)
We got a cat in October and named him Speedbump. He was hit by a car and died on 12-26-08.
I've woken up many mornings and said, it's going to be a bad day...IT WAS!


I guess you get the drift.

This morning when I was checking my Facebook, I wasn't in the mood to be out of bed and I didn't really want to go to work. But, I decided right then, when I was writing my status, that it was going to be a good day.

I walked into Nicole's room and this is what I saw...(why do they need full-size beds again?) lol

I woke Matthew up and he yelled that he never gets to sleep in. It actually made me laugh...we were running late. He slept in until 7:15.

At work the kids were naughty, but today it seemed funny.

The best part of the day was tonight, when I was unpacking the laptop--Ken took it to work. I set up the computer and then went to check the pockets before putting the case away and I found my FAVORITE necklace and earrings set that has been lost for more than 5 weeks. I thought I left it at my Moms, and then I told Heather I thought she found and kept them. I knew she didn't, but the thought helped me to think at least they were being worn!

ANYWAY, I guess my point is...we decide how we are going to feel and what kind of day we will have. I'm grateful that my day went the way it did.

Don't worry about Speedbump, we didn't really like him. We still have Baylee and Zoey, the amazing whiney cats...both outside mousers.

Tag! Tag! Tag! Tag! Tag! Tag! x6

6 Favorite TV shows:
1. THE OFFICE !
2. John and Kate plus 8
3. How it's Made
4. News Radio (Yes, I know it's not on TV anymore)
5. American Idol
6. Taxi (See parenthesis on #4)
I don't watch 6 TV shows..this was hard! Is YouTube a show??? I'll give you 6 links...


6 Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Went to Work
2. Made Dinner
3. Talked to my Dad and all 3 of my Sisters on the phone
4. Went to Parent/Teacher Conferences
5. Tucked my kids into bed
6. Read a portion of the upcoming Sunday School Lesson



6 Things I'm looking forward to:
1. My Slumber Party this weekend
2. Going to Nauvoo/St. Louis/Chicago in March
3. My Sister coming to visit in October
4. Receiving gifts in the mail. They are always welcome!!
5. Summer Vacation
6. General Conference



6 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Azteca
2. The Melting Pot
3. Red Robin
4. Quiznos
5. ?
6. ?
That was a hard one--we don't eat out very often and there aren't alot of choices here. Most are gross. I'll edit this post if I think of 2 more.



6 Things on my wish list:
1. More time with my extended Family
2. More Kids
3. That Ken would stop stealing the covers
4. More Socks/Shoes
5. I wish we lived closer to a temple
6. That Dell wasn't LAME!!



6 Things I am thankful for:
1. Contact Lenses
2. Facebook/Blogging
3. Unlimited Long Distance and a 2 hour time difference
4. Camaras
5. Garlic and Chocolate
6. My Cellphone. Everyone needs a BlackBerry!!

The First Five...

The first five...

The first people to leave a comment on this blog will receive something made by me.However there are some limitations

1. I make no guarantee that you will like what I make.
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It will be done this year. (might take a while)
4. You have not clue what it is going to be, a photo, something I have craftily put together, or sewn. I may bake something and mail it you . Who knows? Not you that's for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. It may blow your mind!

Here is the catch, if you choose to do this. You must post this on your blog and be ready to make something for five people too. This will be fun! When you receive the fabulous item I make you, you must post a picture of it on your blog. because i am so awesome, my awesomeness MUST be spread about the bloggoshpere.

If I do not know you and do not have your address, be prepared to give it up if you want the goods. If you do not wish to give a total stranger your personal address, I will move on to the next post.

I intended this blog to be specifically for documenting thoughts, photos and daily activities for my posterity, but this is too fun.

It's so nice to have a camara again!

Ug!

Me:  Did you brush your teeth today? Child:  They look white! Me:  You still have to brush your teeth everyday. Child:  Even when they already look white?   Sadly, this conversation took place as I was driving said child to school this morning. Ug!

A shout out to mi hermano, KYLE

My little brother is on his mission in the Pennsylvania, Harrisburg Mission. He's been gone over a month and I'm ashamed to say that today is the first time I've sat down and written him a letter on paper. Nicole was writing him, so I decided to follow her example. What a good girl she is. Anyway, while Nicole was drawing him a picture, I decided to draw him one too. It's so awesome, I framed it. I won't be offended if he pitches the pic and keeps the frame, but I was pretty happy with it. Here it is. I'll mail it to him this week.

Happy Valentine's Day

Tonight, to celebrate Valentine's Day, we went to our ward party as a family. We had a potluck dinner, yummy punch, nice music in the background and fun game. All in all it was a fun evening and we were home by 7:30...my kind of night. I must be getting old because I really love to be home at night.

Here are a couple of pictures from tonight. (From my new camara...it came today! YEAH!) I'm not sure how I didn't manage to get a picture of Matthew, so I took one of him holding his Valentine Chocolate Bar.

My Colie, showing off her skills...

"I LOVE CHOCOLATE!!"

I don't know why it's humanly impossible to take a good pic on the first try...somehow we are incapable of it though.

Okay, take 2 seemed to work out much better.

This and That from This Week

A Couple Quotes from my kiddos...

Matthew: Mom, earlier when I was cleaning my room sort of ..... (I had to have him repeat this part again to make sure I heard him correctly, not quite sure what he had to say after that. I'm still working on not interupting. (I'm not doing very well.))

****

Nicole: Matthew, do you like that cookie I saved for you?
Matthew: yes, thanks for saving me one.
Nicole: You're welcome. I took a bite out of it and didn't like it.

****

I am teaching the Relief Society Lesson this Sunday. It is about missionary work. It is AWESOME!! I want to urge all of you that attend Relief Society/Priesthood to read lesson #28 before Sunday. We can talk about/discuss after church.

****

My camara has been shipped. It'll be here in a couple more days. YEAH!!

****

Finally, here is a sad sight that I came across earlier in the week...a cruel trick if you ask me.

Have a good weekend! Happy Valentines Day! I hope it's everything you want it to be.

Mother of the Year...

Nicole: Mom, do you think my hair is growing out nicely?
Me: I already told you I that I thought it looked nice.
Nicole: No, you told me to be quiet.

I probably at some point did tell her to be quiet, but we did have a nice conversation about her hair.

Sadly, perception is reality.

Lehi's Dream

I'm not big on the Gospel according to Dedra, or anyone else. I hope that the things that I want to share with you make sense and seem correct. I wrote these thoughts down a short time ago and tonight I felt like I should share them here.

I LOVE LEHI'S DREAM!!!

In 1 Nephi 8:5, you read of a man in white robe. That man is Jesus Christ. Then over in verse 11 of the same chapter, it talks of the fruit--which is the Love of God. The fruit is white--a whiteness that exceeds any thing Nephi has ever seen. I think that is awesome because who loves us more than Jesus Christ? No one! The love of God in the dream is whiter/brighter/stronger than any other. White is also pure. Christ's love for each of us is whiter/brighter/stronger and more pure than any other love.

Another thought I had about Lehi's Dream is found in chapter 12 of 1 Nephi. I was reading about the thunderings and quakings. I noticed that where ever the destruction was, the mist of darkness followed. That mist is Satan. Then is vs. 17 & 18 we read again about the Mist of Darkness and the Great and Spacious Building, which is the pride of the world.

That is when my thought came to me. I realized that all things that came from God are 'natural'. The Rod of Iron is not going to break during a natural disaster. The Tree of Life along with the Fruit have to be nurtered. If I don't do my part--read the scriptures, be kind, keep the commandments, magnify my callings, etc, the fruit won't be there for me to partake of.

I found it interesting that the temptation of the devil is a mist, because a mist can clear away. It WILL clear away! When Christ comes, that mist WILL clear away. Also, mist can move away quickly (casting satan out). Have you ever been driving through fog and all of the sudden you can see clearly? It's like going from a bad situation to a better one.

Lastly, the Great and Spacious Building is also man-made. When the earth has it's earthquakes, that building will fall! Just like when Christ comes and we all bow down before him, our pride is going to fall away.

I know the things that I have read and studied are true! I can feel the Holy Ghost testify to me again right now that the scriptures are true and they exist for our day and to help us (YOU AND ME!) through any troubles we may have.

I just felt like I needed to share that with you. I know many of my friends aren't members of my faith. If you ever had any questions, please feel free to ask me! You can also look at our church website on line.

Coming soon...

MORE CURRENT PICTURES!!!

See this BEAUTIFUL camara?? I bought it in May. I LOVE it. Rather, I LOVED it. It had a little accident in California and drowned. What happened you ask? It fell in the toilet at Disneyland. I know, GROSS! I've done my best to sanitize it. I washed the little cord or handle thingy. I cleaned everywhere I could with clorox wipes. (Too bad you can't run it through the washer...I already know water is BAD for it.) I let it dry for a while. Still it wasn't working. When I've needed to take a picture, I have borrowed Nicole's camara. Last night I loaded mine up with batteries again..one last effort to see if it has finally decided to work. No such luck, and to add insult to injury... Somebody (one of my kids) has dropped it and the screen is shattered. Goodbye little Cannon.

Tonight Ken and I went to Walmart (I HATE WALMART) to buy a new camara. Sadly, our beautiful camara is no longer available there...9 months later. We had to buy a different one. We finally chose one and they didn't have any in stock. We asked to buy the display and they wouldn't sell it to us because at some point they will have more in stock. I asked when and the lady said they wouldn't know until it was shipped.When we got home, I went online (I LOVE AMAZON!) and found the exact camara we had for a very nice price. Ken talked me into buying the once we were going to get at Walmart though. Because we bought it online, through amazon, the price was 30 dollars less that at Walmart and we didn't have to pay shipping. It will be here in 5 days. Then I can take pictures again. I'm so excited!!!

Bowling

The first friday of every month we take the kids in our class at school bowling. When we get there, they all take their shoes off (we don'tmess with rentals), the bumpers go up, and then they bowl.


We have some amazing talent in our room. The high score was 113, the low was 36.

One girl (age 6) walked up to her lane, stopped at the line and just dropped the ball. About 1/2 of the way down to lane, it STOPPED! We couldn't get the guy's attention to come get it, so I got to walk down the gutter and get the ball. It happened too quickly to hand my camara to my friend, but it was enjoyable.

One boy actually managed to get a ball in the gutter--I don't know how he did it, but I got a picture of it.

Good Times. LOL!

While I was eavesdropping...

This morning Ken asked Nicole what movies came from Netflix yesterday. She replied that she didn't know. Ken jokingly said, you know but you don't want to tell me becuase you are mean. Nicole said, no really! I just don't remember, I'm sorry Dad. Ken said, I know Colie, I was kidding. You don't have a mean bone in your body.


Less than 5 seconds later I heard, 'SHUT UP ANIMAL!!!" from Nicole.


It made me laugh.

This is not a stuffed animal, it's our dog--Animal.

A couple of questions

Tonight when I was tucking Matthew in I asked him the same things I ask him every night.

Where do you want to get married? The temple.
Which one? It doesn't matter, Dad says my wife gets to pick. (Atta boy! 1 point for Ken!)

Where do you want to go on your mission? Australia. No wait, I don't want to learn to speak their language.

LOL!!

I was going to tuck Nicole in too, but she is hiding out in the bathroom. I asked her if she was okay and she said she was in there because she wasn't sure if she was sick yet. (She is going to school tomorrow!)

Family Scripture Study or Enduring to the End...you decide!

I'd like to give you a glimpse of our scripture study . It happens either at 6:30 am or in the evening right before bedtime around 6:45-7:00. Today, we were late...it was 8:21 when we started because of Wednesday Night Activities at the church.

So this is how we start every night. Ken uses his best 'Fight Announcer Voice' and says--really LOUD-- TONIGHT ON SCRIPTURES!! Then he reads the heading of the chapter we will be reading. Tonight it was Alma 8.

While Ken was reading the first 10 verses, Nicole was taking her hair out and teasing the dog. Matthew was on the floor body surfing on his ripstick. (He lost his ripstick tonight)

Randomly, when Ken read the word 'Ammonihah' everyone felt the need to say it with him in an authorative voice. When the word Satan was read, Matthew took it upon himself to follow with the sound effect du du dun. (doom and gloom from cartoons)

After Ken reads, next it's Matthew's turn. In Verse 15 he misread and said, 'lift up thy tiny head and rejoice.' I don't know where he thought he saw tiny, but it crackced Ken and I up. We kept it hidden, but it was not a good thing. The next verse he misread again, 'I am sent to command three (instead of thee) that thou return to Ammonihah (more authorative voices).

After verse 16, it was time to review. Ken asked, 'so what have we read about so far?' Nicole responded by asking, 'Can I go to bed?' More sighs followed by Ken and I and Matthew said, 'du du dun.

We pressed forward with the review, next it was Nicole's turn to read. As she read, Matthew was all over the floor, and had surrounded himself with his favorite toys (which are not even allowed out of his room.) She was 2 verses into her reading and we asked Matthew where she was...what word was next. He said a word (which was wrong) and Nicole said, 'I don't even know where I am. I'm starting over.' More sighs from Ken and I.

She had 1 more verse to read and Ken asked the kids a question. Nicole felt interupted and said, 'I'm not done reading..I have one more verse.' Ken repeated the question and then Matthew asked, 'when are we getting the dog's balls cut off?'

Time for family prayers. We will try again tomorrow. **sigh**

This picture is LIVE. I had my phone and shot it really quick while Nicole was reading. **more sighs**

Happy Birthday Wendi!!

Today is my Sister's Birthday. Wendi is #1 out of 8 and 8 years older than me.

Even thought I was so much younger than her, and there were a couple of kids in between up, I always felt close to her growing up. She taught me the articles of faith. She took me and my little bros and sister to see the movie 'Oliver and Company' in the theater when I was in 5th grade. She also snuck pizza into our room (Heather, Wendi and Me) when we were playing house when I was little.

The first trip I ever went on without my parents was with Wendi. She was 14, I was 6. We had to go from Meridian, ID to Ontario, OR to pick up some headsets for my Mom and Dad. The trip was an hour or so each way, and I'd never gone that far without my parents. We even left the state!! Wendi had just gotten her driver's license, and I was so excited that she invited me to go. We left in the daylight and got home in the dark. I thought we'd been gone ALL DAY. Even thought we now go further than that to attend Stake Conference or to get to a Sam's Club, I thought we were on a road trip.

As I got older, our relationship was always good. She had fun things for us to, and I loved it.

Wendi on your birthday, I hope you have a great day! I wonder if you even remember that today is your birthday, lol. (I'm serious!!) Thank you for fixing my hair for me before my first Stake Dance. Thank you for letting my paint my dresser at your house when I was is HS. Thank you for buying my wedding book. Thank you for letting Ken live with you guys when we were engaged. Thank you for letting us hang out at your house when we visit. Finally, thank you for being a good example to me while we were growing up. I love you!
Here are some pictures of us, growing up...

Happy Groundhog Day!!

I LOVE GROUNDHOG DAY!

I think my love started when the movie Groundhog Day came out. I was in High School. I saw it with some of my closest friends at the time(Beth Palmer, Chris Spurlock and his GF, James Miller) and I LOVED IT. That movie is the first movie I ever went to twice in the theater.

I bought it on VHS as soon as it came out and we watched it so much we wore the tape out. Thank goodness for DVD.

Now that I am married and have kids, Ken and I try to make memories for the kids. We like to celebrate holidays that are really useless (Groundhog Day, St. Patrick's Day, April Fools Day, etc) and make memories for the kids. I'm not going to lie, I enjoy the memories too.

Today was no different. It was a normal day for us. Ken and I went to work, the kids went to school. We feed the missionaries every other Monday and they came over tonight. Dinner was nothing special either. The fun started after dinner. I found a cake idea on the net and we made a groundhog cake. We all built it together and then of course, we ate it. Then after FHE we watched Groundhog Day together.

Here are some pictures of the cake we made. It was super fun to make and eat.

I put the boys in charge of crushing up the oreos. They were sprinkled on top of the cake, it looked like dirt. They are pretty amazing, I must say!

The sisters, Nicole and I decorated the candy bars to look like groundhogs.

For those of you who have led sheltered lives and have not had the privelidge to become acquainted with Groundhog Day, here is a little video for you to watch. RENT THE MOVIE! YOU CAN BORROW MINE! WATCH IT!

A post from Nicole

Here are some pictures of me and my mom. we took them after church today. Thanks Matthew for taking the pictures.

Want to go for a ride on this?

Sorry these pictures are so fuzzy, I took them on my phone.

Last week, during FHE, Matthew was not interested in listening to the lesson. He was actually in a bad mood and at one point he walked by my area rug and kicked up the corner. I nicely asked him not kick the rug but it was too late. He already had a new idea. He walked to the other side of the rug and kicked that corner. Right away I knew what he was doing.

I made the mistake of smiling to Ken and telling him that he's making an airplane. I was thankful that Matthew laughed though, defusing his crumby attitude.He remained here for the rest of our FHE. This is a site I see often now.