Watsonville

Gardens, Birds and Worms

2012-02-20T00:05:00.000-08:00

I have been amazed at the beauty that I've seen so far in New Zealand. Just the simplicity of driving down the road on the way home from my 20 minute drive from the grocery store still takes my breath away. "Am I really living in such a beautiful place as this? Must I really leave? Can I find this serenity in the states?"

Then we visit three different and amazing places today that testifies of God's amazing creations that took my breath away. I have to say I was a bit speechless a few moments at what my eyes took in. No pricey (or mid-priced in our case) camera could EVER really capture the majesty of what laid before us this weekend. Unfortunately, at one specific case they did not allow camera's in at all and that I respected because it needed to be preserved the best way possible.

We started Friday night by going to the Hamilton Gardens. We thought we'd walk around for about 30 minutes or so checking out some nice plants and shrubbery but boy were we WRONG! We walked in and were immediately engulfed in walls of greenery and oh the smell of earth that surrounded us. We got lost in the paths instantly and followed them around for a good 3 hours and only covered half of the grounds. It was beautiful in all its entire splendor. There was one thing that was pretty funny but maybe only because we were American. (You'll see)

They had a "Paradise Garden Collection" area where they featured gardens from a variety of places. Job well done. I know where the next place I'd want to live/decorate my home like/have a backyard party decorated after. What's your favorite?

English Flower Garden

Japanese Garden of Contemplation

Chinese Scholar's Garden

American Modernist Garden

Italian Renaissance Garden

Indian Char Bagh Garden

Saturday we woke up early and took a long drive to Ortorhanga where they have the largest private collection of native birds. And you know what that means? Kiwis! They had a lot of great birds to see and of course the Kiwis were the main reason for our visit. We had seen them before on our last visit to NZ but these ones were huge and amazing to watch eat among the leaves and trees. They really are a beautiful bird. I just still don't get it how they can function without any arms/wings. Just two legs and a beak. Hmmm, I'll ask God about that one later.

We watched two Kea birds be fed by a trainer and man are those things smart. Beautiful and smart! What a catch in the bird world. Smarter than my two year old who earlier in the day put his finger in a fence and got it bit by a orange beaked bird. Sad, but it was the highlight of that outing for the kids.

Kea Bird

Darn bird that bit Maddy

Next we made our way down the road to the most incredible, beautiful, spectacular, unbelievable real sight that I've ever seen. We visited the Waitomo Glowworm Caves. I have to say that we saw a lot more than just glowworms though. In the tour they take you down in to the deep caves of limestone, stalactites and stalagmites before you are deep enough to reach water and the underground of earth to see where the glowworms live. Along the way you see caverns, tunnels and a cave "cathedral" in which performers such as the Vienna Boys Choir come and sing. Visiting Opera Singers to sing Christmas Music here as well. Can you imagine? WOW. Then you move on and learn of the life cycle of the glowworm, they turn off the small amount of lights and then there they are! Hanging like small threads of silk and glowing like stars in the dark. Colors of green, light blue and white light right above our heads. It was breath taking.

To get out of the huge cave that we had just climbed down in to and walked around in they put us in a boat and they floated us out through a series of rope pulling that lead us around more tunneling in the dark. As we floated the only light that shined above us were hundreds of little specks of lights of glowworms. It looked like we were looking up in to the night sky and looking at a full night of stars. Just beautiful. Just lovely. Just AAAH.

Glowworm Cave

"Cathedral"

At one point in the cave I turned to my kids and said, "Hey you guys, this stuff is real! This has been created by God. He put this here. This is not Disneyland and it was not made to look like this by some person. This is all real." Just then Walker says "Ya' I was just going to say that this place looks like the Indiana Jones ride." Oh how our minds have been tainted.

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T12:47:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day was pretty fun and interesting. I soon realized that it is not commercialized here in New Zealand when I didn't see heaps of heart shaped candy, balloons, soaps, or anything red and pink exploding all over the store aisles. If you weren't to know what day it was (thanks to my handy calendar) you wouldn't even know there was a holiday among us. No real mention of it at school or at any store until the day of when they started pushing some random perfume at the checkout stand.

I was going to have to be creative in order to not disappoint the kids this year. I didn't have 3 Targets with in a 6 mile radius to load up on unnecessary decorations, candy and bags to fill with treats and toys only to be forgotten until Easter when I was to please them all over again. Isn't that what we do as moms?

This is what I came up with this year. Not feeling so crafty and to par with what I know I could have done with my normal supplies back at home. Then again, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore Toto.

Paper cut out hearts taped on the wall.

Heart pancakes for breakfast.

Walker helped by decorating his lego figures with Valentine's vests and a loincloth.

Enjoying Valentine's breakfast while Maddy still sleeps.

Valentine's dessert.

Chocolate Cake and Raspberry Lamingtons

Then after dinner and dessert we exchanged Valentine's gifts. Abby went first. She had been working all week on personalized letters for everyone in the family. It was so kind and thoughtful of her and we all appreciated her efforts.

Then Walker passed his out to Mom and Dad. Lovely letters to each of us followed by gifts he had made. Shells from our beach trip that he had drawn personalized pictures on. He had wrapped them in towels for us to unwrap. I love the thought and effort that went in to his gift as well.

Then I passed out the rest of the families gifts. I guess it works when you know your kids pretty well. The boys got a new lego figurine and a candy bar. They also got a chess set that I'm sure will keep them busy the remainder of their time here. Abby got nail polish and a candy bar as well as some NZ stickers she can use for writing letters. They all got a small canvas picture to paint that we can do on a slow Sunday afternoon. Dad got candy and a new shirt. So at the end of the day I think I was able to pull it off pretty well.

Now on to Easter. I haven't seen any plastic eggs yet and in America these would have been put out about a month ago so I'm thinking I need to start to hollow out eggs, do paper mache, hard boil about 50 eggs or maybe just get wads of paper taped up tight to look like eggs. We have a huge yard that the kids can have a hay day finding stuff in. Any ideas?

Beach Time

2012-02-12T20:45:00.000-08:00

Our original plan this weekend was to drive to Mount Maunganui and hike the base of Mauao. It is a small mountain and as Maori mythology goes, it was once a nameless mountain that stood inland. It came to rest in its current location after falling in love with a nearby mountain named Puwhenua. When she did not reciprocate, Mauoa was so upset that he called upon his fairy-like friends to drag him towards the coast and help drown him in the Pacific Ocean in the darkness of night. He made it to the end of the peninsula, but at that moment the sun rose. His friends, being night creatures, were forced to flee back to the forest, and left him stranded there forever.

Mauoa is at the very end of the peninsula and there is beach on both sides. One side seems to cater to sand volleyball, surfers and sun bathers. The other side held sail boats, barbeques and beach camping. It is a beautiful beach town that is full of beach homes, apartments, eateries and shopping.

So drove to the base and couldn't really seem to find the entrance. Plus it was super hot and we were hungry for lunch. So instead we decided to forgo that plan and hit the beach instead. There we had a beach picnic, played in the water, walked along the beach front and found all sorts of fun discoveries like baby muscles growing on rocks and the most perfect seashells we've ever seen. The scenery at this beach is amazing!

Scenery in the ocean

Mauou on the left

Completely flat shell

Perfect shells were everywhere!

Then we walked around town for a bit and found a great family restaurant for dinner. What a nice way to keep the family occupied while dinner is being cooked. So many fun things around each corner in NZ!

Then to finish off the weekend we relaxed by going to Church at the Tokoroa Ward for the second week now. It's been great. They are soooo kind and welcoming. Spirit was great and they are nice to involve us in the lessons and activities already.

Just the start of a 4 hr puzzle

Time with the boys

2012-02-09T14:53:00.000-08:00

With the dad gone and two older kids in school I've had some enjoyable days just hanging out with the younger boys. Ann Silva (who I met at church on Sunday) came and took us to some amazing sights all day and had a fun picnic lunch along the river bank. Some places she took us to was Arapuni Swin Bridge. It was so beautiful and we will for sure be taking the entire family back soon.

After that we took a short hike around Mnt Maungarautari. Just enough to see what it was like in there so we could again bring the entire family back. There are so many trails that we could have spend hours in that place. It was amazing and so beautiful. At the base of the mountain it was completely fenced off with a double gated door you have to enter. They do this to keep out rats and other animals that might harm the birds and other animals and vegitation they are wanting to preserve. Well done I say!

Other days in the week we spent going to the park, the library and relaxing reading our books.

The weather is so nice with it being summer here that we have been eating our dinners outside. So why not have picnics for lunch?

Then to finish off the week the kids had a "Sausage Sizzle/Pool Party" at their school at night. Not keen on the sausage thing just yet we got take away for ourselves. It was open to the community but it was mostly school kids and parents and all the teachers. It was fun to see teachers racing kids and everyone socializing and having a good time.

Now it's Friday and we are looking forward to the weekend and more fun. Maybe the beach. Who knows? Oh and yes, I did keep track of the week and Cordell was picked up on Thursday!

So confused?

2012-02-06T21:32:00.000-08:00

What day is it today? Three day weekends are so nice but is it just me or does it throw off your entire week? Monday is like another Saturday so what does that make Tuesday? It's not Sunday cuz we didn't have church twice. So that would make it Monday starting the week new but then we are ahead of the week by a day. Darn, I'm so confused. I don't have the convenience of a iphone or fancy techy device hooked to my side to keep me updated with the world.

Cordell had to go out of town this week and all I can think is "crap, don't forget to pick him up from the airport on Thursday. Better yet, don't forget to remember what day is Thursday." I taped a small piece of paper on the fridge with this on it "Thursday, 7:40" but then today I realized it means nothing if I don't know what day the current day even is. Wow, my life is so laxed I'm not even keeping track of what day it is. Is that nice or what?

So in an attempt to organize my days (yep, that's how simple it's gotten around here, keeping track of what day it is) I decided I need a calendar to hang up. Hmmm, how am I going achieve that? At home I'd have one. No, I'd have a phone that would have it for me. As a backup I'd print out a cute fancy one I'd found on some over achieving mom blog somewhere that I would soon add to my favorites bar. I'd use one of my adorable bottle cap super strength magnets that can hold up a small child (I've been very tempted to try as a means of a time out location) to hold the fresh personalized and printed calendar. But oh the days of home offices and home printers are long gone. Not so much here!

Remember back in the day of say 5th grade when you needed a calendar or a picture of a country for the cover of the book report you'd been working on for days. You had to free hand it on a piece of paper with rulers or any straight object if you couldn't find a ruler that hadn't been ruined by a marker, tracing over pictures out of a book, or use an overhead projector and dark room to draw what later could only look like Einstein's profile, hair and all. Yep, that was me today trying to get a simple calendar made simply so that I wouldn't forget to pick up my husband at the airport in 2 days.

How I take for granted a printer and plain paper. And without a copier looks like I'll be going through this ordeal two more times. Oooh but I can trace Febs calendar to make it much easier. But let it be known, brochures make for a good ruler.

Agrodome, Voltage and Hot Pools

2012-02-05T23:54:00.000-08:00

Hmmm what to do, what to do? Our first Saturday in NZ and what is there to do? PLENTY I tell you! We have a long list to tackle while we are here so let's get to it.

We spent the entire day in Rotorua. A beautiful city known for its thrilling activities, natural attractions, entertainment, shopping and dining. We started at the Agrodome which would make any 4H member envy to no end. This famous attraction features live sheep shearing, 19 breeds of champion rams, cow milking, lamb feeding, dog demonstrations as well as a full New Zealand dog trial. Let me tell you what, they sure do give you the full experience. Just take a look.

Walker chosen to go on stage to milk a cow.

Proud certificate for milking the above mentioned cow.

Abby chosen to go on stage to participate in a contest. See who can feed a baby sheep the fastest.

Her reward for winning was all the wool from the sheep that was sheared earlier in the show. Lucky us. :/

Who knew there were so many different breeds of sheep?

Next we drove to Paradise Valley Springs Wildlife Park. This was a glorified petting zoo. It had lion cubs to pet. Although my hyper kids couldn't stand quiet long enough to be in the cage to wait their turn that we needed to leave. The zoo keeper worried they would get the resting cubs riled up. Fair enough. Didn't want any kid to lose a hand at my child's expense. So we walked on our merry way and found some other fun animals like deer, pigs, birds, wallabies, eels, alpacas, donkeys, goats and then the mother of all mothers, the lion den. They had 6 lions (5 female and 1 male, can we say sister wives?) in the cage. All though this one was surrounded with fencing and signs that said "warning, electric fence". Oh great. Maybe this will be the time my boys learn their lesson not to touch everything they see, everywhere we go! Is it just my boys or is it all boys that are told "don't touch that, put that down, don't touch it, PLEASE!" constantly?

So this is how we had to draw the picture in their head so that they would hopefully listen to us for real this time.

"Hey kids, remember that scene from Jurassic park where the boy is climbing the fence and all of the sudden the fence turns on and ZAP he goes flying off and gets hurt real bad?"

"Ya' mom, we get it."

"Do you really? Because this is serious and we don't want you guys getting hurt."

"So are you saying it's like that part in the Muppets movie when he gets shocked and gets burned up?" said younger kid

"I guess so, but do you all understand what we are saying?"

"Wooooooaaaaaaaa"

And wouldn't you guess, not even 23 seconds later guess who's hand is right up there ready in slow motion touching...the...fence!

"N-N-N-O-O-O-O-O-O-O"

Stupid me. Why would they put the electric part of the fence on the outside of the lion's den? It was on the inside of the double fenced area. But still, he should have listened. Now the lesson of "don't touch" was void again! Darn you false warning signs!

To rest from that dramatic experience we drove a little ways off to the Polynesian Spa. Hot mineral bathing pools that smell a little less than desirable but feel oh so good. We swam in freshwater pools that were filled with alkaline mineral water leaving our skin "soft and supple". It was a great way to end our long fun filled day.

Can't wait to see what adventure next weekend has in store for us. Lets just hope it does not involve high voltage of any kind.

Getting Caught In The Rain

2012-02-03T11:01:00.000-08:00

The sun goes down at about 9:00 p.m. giving us a lot of day time to enjoy. So after dinner the boys decided to take a walk while Abby and I cleaned up and read for a little while. The weather was nice when they left but that changed rather quickly.

First Day of School

2012-01-31T21:43:00.000-08:00

It's weird to be writing that again but for Abigail and Walker they experienced another "First Day of School" yesterday with the other students at Putaruru Primary School. They have been on summer break and just started back at school. It was fortunate for Abby and Walker to be able to start with them on their first day as well.

Abby is in a combo class with 4th, 5th and 6th year students called the Challengers. Walker is in a combo class with 2nd and 3rd year students called the Voyagers. The school is rather small with only about 170 students in all.

What we have learned on their first day is that shoes are optional. The kids LOVE this. It's not a joke. I walked in to the office and the principal was not even wearing shoes. It was awesome. They swim each day for P.E. and so they wear Togs or what we call swim suits. They wear uniforms and part of that standard uniform is a hat that is mandatory when they are outside. They are serious about the sun here in NZ.

Campus is completely open to parents. They just let you walk around, check out the class, stop by to see how your child is doing, bring them snacks during recess/snack time and bring lunches. No need to bring anything to the office to drop it off. No "visitor pass" or signing in or out. They just said, "go ahead and walk on in to the class." The encourage parents to come to assembly's and morning gatherings. So welcoming and relaxed.

School is from 9-3 with lunch at 1. This was a pretty late day the first day for Walker. He even asked his teacher if they sleep there at school. I bet he was beginning to wonder if he was ever going to go home.

Their homework policy is that homework is something they like to teach as a habit and not extra school work to be done at home that the teacher should have to monitor and keep after the children to do. With that, homework will be kept to a minimum of 20 minutes a night. HOLY COW! What are we going to do with the other 2 hrs and 40 mins of homework time we've been doing every night?

Again, I think leaving NZ is going to be a hard adjustment in more ways than one as we are quickly learning.

A new beginning....

2012-01-30T23:32:00.000-08:00

So before I begin on a new week, I've already covered a bit of what we did on Thursday and Saturday. We didn't have a Friday because of travel and the time change. How weird is that? Monday was a holiday here so we drove around to check out some local sites close to us.

New Zealand, Hamilton Temple

Then we came home and swam at the local pool that is conveniently located just across the street from our home. We are pretty excited about that. The kids were excited to jump in and get some practice before school started the next day. They will have the joy of swimming every day for P.E. at school and didn't want to be rusty. I have a feeling they are going to like school. We'll see.

Kia Ora!

2012-01-28T23:09:00.000-08:00

WE MADE IT! We made it through the check in, baggage check, security, long waits to board, 13 hr plane ride, passport check, customs and a 2 hr drive to our home but we made it in one piece. Piece of mind that is. It wasn't too bad after all. Traveling with 4 kids we planned for the worse and hoped for the best. When your airplane has individualized t.v.'s and gameing consoles for each person well I don't have to paint that picture for you if you have young kids.

Our home is a nice little 4 bedroom, one bath place that is a dream. It has just enough space for all of us and a visitor (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). Two rooms have trundle beds so they have decided to share rooms leaving one room is left vacant as a guest room (for yep, you know who you are). It has a decent sized t.v. room, kitchen/dining room and laundry room/closet.

I think having served a mission it has prepared me for being able to live in any conditions possible. The kids on the other hand. They are funny. Talmage walked right in and said "wow, this is beautiful." The kids ran from room to room and claimed their bit of home right away. How could we have all thought any different that Abby wouldn't want the purple felt covered walls and butterfly papering for her room. It wasn't until they walked throught the t.v. room to the back deck that took all of our breaths away. This place is A-H-H-H-M-A-Z-I-N-G! My previous post with the google map, ya' that didn't even do this place justice. Let's just say that we got here yesterday and we haven't seen the kids in two days except for when they are hungry. Abby came in to grab something and on the way out she said, "see you at dinner time or sometime around there." Man did that bring back memories of when we were kids and could actually say that to our parents.

I'm not kidding about this majical place. I'm not sure how it will to be going back to our dust stink hole of a backyard after living with the Secret Garden/jungle. It is going to be really, REALLY difficult. We have these views from our bedrooms and I wish you could smell it too. See for yourself!

Our humble abode from the front

The view from the deck off the t.v. room and bedrooms

The view looking back up at the house from the yard

Another thing we have to get used to is our lovely vehicle. According to New Zealand's standards we have quite a lot of people in our family. Enough to necessitate a large vehicle in which to get us all around town in. We asked for something like a large car, SUV or a van. Nope, not here. We qualify for what they call a "people mover". So we're the nice American's sporting the 1994 teal PMV (that's just my cool way of admitting it's a 'people mover vehicle'). Do you think we'll blend in alright?

Our PMV yo!

Now if I can just learn how to drive on the wrong side of the car and road we'll be doing alright.

NZ Bound

2012-01-28T22:21:00.000-08:00

And we're off! New Zealand here we come! We packed up our lives for 3 months, left a lot behind and are ready for this new adventure and journey to begin in so many ways. The kids had a hard time saying goodbye to their friends and I have to admit, so did I. Like I told Abby, "it's better to have great friends to miss while you are away than no friends at all." We feel so blessed and lucky to have this opportunity to experience a new culture, new way of living, new people and new ways to serve. I'm grateful for a husband who loves adventures and New Zealand so much that he felt a desire to bring his family here to experience something new. We are truly blessed! Yep, I said it again. I hope you'll join us on our journey through NZ the next 3 months. If not, we'll catch up later but I can't promise you any of the same stories or pictures to prove them to you. Your choice. ;)

Heading out of LAX!

Kicking it DS style while we wait to board the plane.

And we're off! No looking back now!

Abby the Science Kid

2012-01-24T17:26:00.000-08:00

The 4th Grade has come with a whole new set of challenges. We've been battling them as well as they have come. New friends, new curriculum, new way the teacher requires cursive to be written (found that out the hard way when her spelling test came back with a low score and NOT because the words were misspelled!). We've welcomed silly boys and their teasing, California Missions, G.A.T.E work, GPA's and not just plus and minus scores. We thought we had 4th Grade in the bag. After all it's more than half way through the year. BUT NOOOOO. It's Science Fair time! As Abby is our oldest this is our first experience with doing a science experiment and all that it entails. Oh man has it been a while since I've done this.

We are sure glad for the help of some great family and friends for help with this one. A lot of food was consumed to make this possible. I hope Aunt Tam's kitchen doesn't still smell like a food court! I sure hope I get an A!

Hogwarts Here!

2012-01-13T17:41:00.000-08:00

So this week at the kids elementary school they celebrated reading by being able to dress up as their favorite storybook character. If you know my kids, you don't even have to guess what they dressed up as. It wouldn't have been possible without this years amazing Christmas gifts from Aunt Tammy who made the cloaks and Grandpa U who made the wands. She also gave Walker the glasses and we found the ties and vest.

Abby was the best Hermione because she had the hair to make puffy as she called it. Walker has been growing out his hair and it all came together perfectly. He even wanted to draw a scar on. I think they really enjoyed their day. Thanks to a great idea at a great Elementary school.

H&G

2012-01-13T17:04:00.000-08:00

Hello and Goodbye!

Before I start telling the happenings of THIS year (I know, we are only 2 weeks in), I'll just do a short recap of last year. And by short I mean just last month. I'm too tired and have lots of other things going on to talk about all of last year and really, not much happened.

We spent our Holday's with family and this year was super extra special because we got to spend it with both sides. That hasn't happened in about 4 years and that's a long time for me. Just see for yourself how much we enjoyed ourselves....

To kick of the Holiday festivities we enjoyed the St. Philips Nativity story that all the children participated in. I say all and I mean about 100 kids but one. Can you guess who the ONE was? Yep, my child. Oh, don't get me wrong, he knew the songs and had been practicing for weeks all around the house but come the actual performance the kids was soooo excited that he just couldn't stand still on the risers. Jumping and squirming too much and may or may not have grabbed the mic. So the teacher pulled him off the third row and put him and the ground, by her side, away from ALL the other kids. That was it for him. Sad thing is it was about the 4 number in. Regardless he as a cute little Donkey. Granted at the time there may have been another word I may have been thinking of instead of Donkey.

We had some good times with the Watson's exchanging early Christmas presents then having a night of our annual (ok, we've done it twice but I'm sure it's here to stay. It's pretty fun.) Navity reading/reenactment. I'd like to give a shout out to the Dad who played Joseph. No child chose that character simply because it didn't have a crown/staff/gift or anything "cool" to use.

Don't you just love the Twin Sheep?

Then we headed up to Utah for some much cooler weather, snow and more family. Two out of three isn't bad.

We just chilled on "Big Red", my own name for the womb of comfort in the folks basement. It sleeps 4 kids comfortably! It's the lenght of a twin bed!

Ate, watched some T.V. and played THE BEST Wii game EVER, ABBA dance baby! Anyone care to dance with me? Kids played on their new toys and men watched ball games. Not sure if we ever got out of our pj's the entire time.

It was much needed R & R for what lies ahead in our next wild adventure!

What I will mention is that Cordell and I have had a tradition since the first year we were married that is we get chinese food on Christmas Eve (if we are not with family) or some time during Christmas break. Not sure why but it happened and sort of stuck. This year it was pretty fun because we got some good fortunes.

So to send us off in to the new year, Confusios says...

"You will soon be crossing great waters on a fun vacation."

Why I like to "craft"

2012-01-01T09:45:00.000-08:00

This is from an article I've loved and have read often, shared with others and now a clip of it is in video form. This is why I like to create, design or make things. Why I do it for fun or for others. I believe it's something each of us has deep within ourselves. We all may not be the "crafty type" but I do believe we can all create something out of nothing. If you've made lunch today then there's a start.

New Zealand!

2011-12-04T19:26:00.001-08:00

North Island. We'll be living South of Hamilton.

Our new home. A lot of land, big trees and sheep.

So the word is out (or starting to get out I hear) that the Watson family is packing their bags and heading south, VERY far south to almost the end of the earth to live in New Zealand. It is true! Cordell has an opportunity to work in New Zealand in a small town as their Doctor for a few short months. Short enough for us to be able to return back to our life here in California pretty easily but long enough for the kids to go to school there and get the full experience of New Zealand life.

We are really excited for this adventure and time to take our family to a new place, to learn a new culture and a new way of life. It will be hard to leave some of our responsibilities and our lives here but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity that we feel blessed to be able to experience.

So I guess we'll see you all later.

Dear Santa,

2011-11-25T08:24:00.001-08:00

The bird's been eaten, the pies have been consumed and the pants have been stretched beyond any safety limit so what does that mean? Bring on the CHRISTMAS MUSIC! Get out the DECORATIONS, start eating the TREATS and in my kids case, get your LISTS made STAT!

Walker has made quite the work on this years list leaving nothing behind and I mean NOTHING! I think this kid has been thinking about it ALL year long. "Hmmm, think what do I want...(scribble scribble, scratch scratch as smoke starts coming from his paper). You know that scene from "A Christmas Story" where Ralphy using his decoder to find the secret code from Little Orphan Annie. He's working away so intently with his little tongue moving around and his fingers moving so fast. Ya' that was Walker writing down his Christmas list. And after a little while and days of adding to his list he ended up with 4 pages of items and this is some of what he came up with. I sure hope Santa can deliver. Or someone!

Harry Potter DS Game
T.V. for my room
Remote Control Shark
Lawn Darts
Electronic Chop Sticks
Fake Mustache
A Band
Round Harry Potter Glasses
Plastic Sword
Spoons
Creepy Crawlers
Church Vest and Coat
Baseball Bat (not wood)
Flashlight that never EVER brakes
Paint for my room
Colored Paper
Clown nose, hair and shirt
Mail box
Giant bowl of apples
Target to throw rocks at
3 large trees (to plant in the back yard)
Pocket knife for camping
Balloons
Harry Potter Wand (wood please)
3 tree houses to put in the trees we plant (see above)
Kindle fire
500 dollars, 50 or 100

I say that's a pretty good list. With a broad list like this I'm sure he won't be disappointed. This is also coming from the same kid who a few years ago sat on Santa's lap at the mall and whispered in Santa's ear that all he wanted was an eye patch. Guess what he got in his stocking that year.....

On the Up and Up

2011-04-11T13:34:00.001-07:00

I knew it wouldn’t take long. Well, at the time I did but looking back I guess it really didn’t take too long to get out of that sad funk I was in.

What was it that got me out of it and so quickly? It was YOU! A lot of phone calls, texts, sweet visits all from very dear friends and more specifically, a little bit of this:

Thanks for caring. Thanks for sharing your advice, your music, your time and more importantly your solid heart. A liquid has been made in to a solid!

I love you all so very much!

My Melted Heart

2011-03-24T16:20:00.001-07:00

Do you ever have those moments when your heart actually melts and forms into tears and wells in your eyes where they sit there all day waiting to drip from time to time reminding you that your heart is till aching and is still melting?

How do you fix your saddened heart? How do you tell it things will be alright and it’s ok to go back inside where you can protect it again where it can be safe and warm?

I have flowers that my eyes can look at and sometimes that helps. I have great friends that listen to in hopes that will dry up some of those tears. Is there a song that will sooth and soften the heart? A good movie? Perhaps a good dessert? Maybe just a good nap?

I feel sad wiping away these tears because they are pieces of my heart that hurt for so many reasons. Is there a way to keep these tears from falling from my eyes today? To keep these pieces of my melted heart?

A tribute

2011-03-16T16:24:00.001-07:00

It’s nice to see where Walker’s heart lies. As I am sitting here on the computer this very minute, he is sorting the clean laundry singing “God Bless America.” Either he loves his country or loves clean clothes.

Maybe this is where it started with me as a child (you know about my imaginary dishwasher don’t you) and my love for clean things.

Time Out For Women

2011-03-07T10:57:00.001-08:00

Since I’m either to lazy or busy to write up my own post about it I’ll just put a link to my sisters blog who’s already done it.

http://uzelicious.blogspot.com/2011/03/time-out-for-women.html

I wish this meant I got a free ticket to the event.

Patches, we don’t need no…..

2011-01-27T13:06:00.001-08:00

Alright so maybe we do need those stinkin’ patches!

Abby has started girl scouts this year and with that comes the joy of selling girl scout cookies! I really hope that this new experience will not result in my families one and only girl scout experience my sister had. You know the one where she sold cookies and when they came her other younger siblings ate all the cookies and my mom had to apologize and pay back all the money. We just thought the world had give a bunch of little kids the best gift ever, cookies appearing out of no where just for us!

So if you’d like, please help a little girl out and order away! I promise I’ll keep them out of reach of her younger brothers. Feel free to leave an order under the comment section or email us at rebeccauwatson@gmail.com .

With each order she will personally include one free hug. Unless that makes you uncomfortable then she’ll just give you a high five.

Thanks to all and here’s to the best season of the new year. I think is should be an official holiday season, Girl Scout Cookie Season.

Love to all,

Abigail and mom Watson

BUZI all the way!

2011-01-25T15:08:00.001-08:00

So if you haven’t already heard me talk about, write about or just plain met her yourself then you are missing meeting and knowing one of the coolest girls ever…..my SISTER!

How cool is she you ask? Well I’ll just let you take a looksie yourself…. Go on, I’ll wait.

http://www.themormonbachelor.com/2011/01/date13-kristy-uzelac.html

See. If you don’t believe me then check out what they say here…

http://realitymormon.blogspot.com/2011/01/date-13-kristy.html

Now if you agree then vote for her to go on a second date. Just click the “like” button on the mormon bachelor page and while you are there make a comment to support this chick.

Good luck sister!

From Rebecca to Juliet

2011-01-14T12:16:00.001-08:00

Dear Juliet,

My name is Rebecca. The Guernsey Literary Club probably hasn’t mentioned of me since they have never met me. I too am new to their society as I have just learned of it through their correspondence with you.

Like the members of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society I feel my life has also been like theirs during the occupation. Not in the way that the Germans are taking over but in the sense that I have allowed other things to take over my life the past 20 yrs. Occupied by things of the world that I haven’t been involved in any literary works other than Super Fudge. I think they would laugh at me if I were to take a turn during their society meetings to talk about such a simple book.

What I have learned through the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is like them, I have a new found love for reading. The way it has taken my mind places that it had otherwise never been. The adventures, respect for other’s opinions and experiences and the way the words on the page can change my emotions in an instance is miraculous.

I admire you and hope your new journey takes you places you thought they never would or wouldn’t have wanted. I know my journey has and will continue to do so.

Respectfully,

Rebecca

p.s. Thanks for your great book, “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.” Now I can mark that one off my list.

Another bit of change

2011-01-13T07:55:00.001-08:00

Continuing on from the last post lets talk about number 2. No, not THAT #2 but the second thing I don’t like that is changing in me.

I have always hated is purses. Just the word itself is a little silly to me. I like the way they look, people look good with them but I’ve never been one to carry a big over the shoulder purse (did you think I was going to say something else? You’re silly.)

Well it wasn’t until my sweet sister shared something with me that she is sharing with the world. Her face and her story.

It started with a bag called the Miche Bag. I hadn’t heard of it before but it’s amazing. They made a bag in support of cancer and in doing so they have asked cancer survivors to be a part of it.

My sister is a cancer survivor and after a few photo shoots her tag was made. A tag that comes with the purchase of the Hope bag. It is being launched this month and if you haven’t seen the bag I encourage you to check it out. Or check me out because I’ve been sporting it all around town and people love it. Plus I have her tag hanging on the bag as well so naturally people do ask. Here she is..

The bag is amazing but my sister is more amazing!

So because of my sister, what better reason to start carrying a bag. Yep, I still refuse to call it a purse!

A New Year and a New Me

2011-01-05T12:42:00.001-08:00

Many of you may or may not know the real me. I have pretty good opinions on things I like and don’t like and for good reasons too. It may just be things that are odd and annoy me or they could very well be things that go deeper that have been rooted in my soul from a very young age. I won’t share them with you for fear I’ll probably offend some if not every reader in some way.

Among this list are two things that are changing me as we speak.

First is READING. Here is where you either really know me or you don’t. I hate reading. I don’t read. Don’t care for it, don’t enjoy it and don’t like being around people that do it. Maybe it’s because I had a relative that read her way through her entire adolescence and never socialized with us. I’d rather be out playing in the sun, making mud pies, laying in warm gutter water, laying on the hot cement to dry off after swimming and finding things in the field across from my house that I swore belonged to the pioneers.

I have a list, a very short list of the books I have read. The Book of Mormon and Super Fudge. Told you I don’t like to read.

BUT something has changed in me. I guess I’m getting old. I have a desire to read. I used to say “why read when you can just watch the movie”. My new goal is to read before watching the movie.

With that I have just finished “Secret Life of Bees” and tried to read “Hunger Games”. I’m starting to read “Water for Elephants” and that’s just the start. My sister and I set a goal to read one book a month and start my own little library of good books.

Here is my list so far based on recommendations from people I trust and not just because the book cover looks cool:

Crossing to Safety

Geurnsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society

I Captured a Castle

The Screwtape Letters

The Help

Little Bee

The Alcheimist

Three Cups of Tea

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

In Defense of Food

Any other suggestions?

Stay tuned and I’ll give my review on what I’ve read from a new readers perspective.

Oh and I’ll post about the second thing on my list too….

Christmas Prep

2010-12-23T15:13:00.001-08:00

People have asked what I do to get ready for Christmas. Well duh, I go last minute grocery shopping with a dinosaur.

Merry Christmasaurus!

Vote for Jim!

2010-11-12T16:58:00.001-08:00

Please take a moment to vote for my brother in law Jim Hall. He is in the serious category and you will want to after seeing his story. We couldn’t make this stuff up (nor would we want to).

So please vote for JIM!

http://www.hoopesvision.com/contest/finalists.html

Who am I supposed to be?

2010-11-05T15:50:00.001-07:00

Things happened this past weekend that really made me question myself. Who I am, why I am the way I am and what others really see in me (or according to one person’s opinion). It was shocking and a bit of reality, nasty and brutal reality to say the least.

Then through the help of some really amazing friends I was able to rethink all the things that were said to me and start to see things a little differently. That perhaps those harsh words may not be exactly true. Thank you (you know who you are) for helping me get out of one of the biggest slumps I’ve been in for a LONG time!

Then I stumbled upon something I wrote down a while ago that I should stick up on my fridge:

“God dwells within you as you yourself, exactly the way you are. God isn’t interested in watching you enact some performance of personality in order to comply with some crackpot notion you have about how a spiritual person looks or behaves. Just stay as you were made, within your natural character.”

- Elizabeth Gilbert

"Eat, Pray, Love"

With that I will say that sure, nobody’s perfect. We all have things we can work on to be a better person. But I am reminded that the Lord has asked me to do things because of the person I am and NOT the person he thinks I can pretend to be. I hope that by being “me” I can help someone out there love life a little bit more.

Anything going on?

2010-11-03T14:52:00.001-07:00

When you don’t blog for a while some one may think “hmm they don’t have much of a life if they don’t blog often. They must not have anything going on or anything to blog about. Or the other person may see this as “wow, they have been so busy with living life that they don’t have time to blog.” Well, let’s just say I’ll leave it up to you, the reader to decide which one is more accurate.

First up, a trip to Catalina with some great friends to celebrate 2 of their 40th birthdays! Oh and is that a Cafe Rio we hit on the way home? Can you tell we are excited?

Hosted a wild party for Abby and a few of her school friends.

Then off to Disneyland for Halloween fun.

Don’t forget the Ward Trunk or Treat

Then came Halloween. Since it fell on a Sunday we “let” the kids stay home and pass out candy for the first time.

Throw in a school carnival, a bunch of activities for church, a party with friends, birthday parties and school parties this month kicked our trash.

It was a good one but ready to slow down a little bit. Oh wait, we have more holidays ahead. Aaaaaagh.

One Fine Day

2010-09-28T14:40:00.001-07:00

September 25, 2010 is a day the Watson family won’t forget. Our Abigail was baptized. This was a day that she had be planning and dreaming of for the past year and a half. She is such a wonderful girl and sharing this experience with her is what being a parent is all about. The feelings that were felt that day by her and those that were there to support her were amazing. I hope she never forgets what she felt that day and how loved she is.

Thanks to all our family members, friends and church members that came to support Abigail. Thanks Emily for such amazing photo’s!

But wait, the day isn’t over. This special day was also shared with Cordell who received a great birthday present. This day was his actual birthday and what a great gift he was given. To baptize his oldest child and only daughter. I won’t say how old he is but let’s just say it’s a pretty significant number that rhymes with dorty. While this day was all about Abigail, we’ll celebrate this next weekend in grand style! Catalina!!!

Finally for #3

2010-09-28T14:14:00.001-07:00

This month our third child entered the world of backpacks, playgrounds and snack time. Yep, preschool! We never thought this day would come simply due to the fact that your child has to be potty trained to go to school. He decided it was time and just like that it was done. Granted he was older than I’d like but all on his own time as he would like.

He goes to school with two other great kids, his friends Christian and Jackson. What a motley looking crew. No, they really are just the cutest little backpack sportin, sandal wearing, happy going boys. See for yourself.

It’s going to be a great year at school for these guys.

Summer came and went

2010-09-06T08:31:00.001-07:00

As school ended and summer began my thoughts about what to do all summer was like the song from Phineas and Ferb “the annual problem of our generation is finding a good way to spend it……”

We made a three week trip to Utah to visit family and we kept plenty busy.

Went to a kids museum

Dino Museum

Walker almost got eaten by a shark (behind ropes)

Abby picked up a few summer jobs

Had a little mishap

Slept with the cousins in the “King Kong” bed

And all that before dad came to join us

Went to Jackson Hole (more photo’s to come)

Family Pictures were taken (still more to come)

Had an 8th Birthday Party

Then it was back to school

Thanks to the Hall’s, Aunt Kristy, St. Marks ER, city of Jackson Hole and the Country Rose Tea Room we kept quite entertained.

See you next summer. K.I.T

One Crazy Summer

2010-08-30T09:24:00.001-07:00

I will eventually get around to posting pictures of our busy and crazy summer. Until I do here is just an idea of what is was like…..

Still here

2010-07-14T07:01:00.001-07:00

I leave for camp today but not before making something fun for the girls when they left yesterday. Would it be me not to?

I found these monster mallows and by monster just check out this…

Monster mallow Large mallow Mini mallow

I just HAD to make something out of them.

Wish me luck at camp!

Off to Camp

2010-07-11T14:24:00.001-07:00

“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.” -Anne Frank

This week is girls camp! I have just been made YW President and I am excited to go be with the girls and draw closer to God.

I’m not sure who I’m more worried about. Me, the girls or my family I have to leave behind. Thanks mom for willing to come out and help.

Pray for us all!

Walkersaurus turns 6!

2010-06-16T12:30:00.001-07:00

Walker turned 6 and with that came one crazy dino weekend. He decided he wanted a dinosaur birthday party simply because he’s obsessed with dinosaurs.

With some quick planning, invitations went out….

Friends came and games were played…

Food was eaten…

And fun was had by all….

Thank you to those who came and for the great times. All I can say is that boys are crazy….and loud!

That smell….

2010-06-11T21:43:00.001-07:00

There are certain things in life that I love. Usually these things are accompanied by certain senses. Smell is the most memorable sense, so they say. I must agree.

I can close my eyes and picture my grandfathers yard that he took so many hours taking care of. The smell of fresh cut grass, tree trimmings, and the smell of fresh water being sprayed on the newly manicured yard.

I can smell my grandmothers beautiful flower garden. There is such a specific smell to her flower garden that I wish, oh I wish so badly that I could bottle that smell up to keep. It is a smell of spring, the smell of earth and of blooming flowers, that I am blessed with every now and again that makes me think she is just reaching out to say hello. Oh how I miss that garden and my grandparents.

I can pick my mothers smell out with blind folds on. It is the same smell she’s had since I was young. Was it the trend of the fragrance by Gloria Vanderbilt or is it just the sweet smell of my mother? Either way my mom has a smell that can’t be mistaken and I miss it when she leaves my home after staying a few days.

I can say that Abby gave me a great gift today as we were getting ready for a dance rehearsal of hers. After getting ready she asked if she could wear some perfume to smell nice. I glanced over at my small collection of fragrances and just pulled out the old stand by. I gave her a quick spray and walked away to finish getting ready. She came to me and said “I smell like Sunday morning. I smell like you mom.”

Could it be? Do I have a smell that my daughter associates with me? If she closes her eyes will she picture my face and the distinctive smell she has in her memory of me? I guess so. I hope so.

I am her mom, I have a smell and now she has a memory.

Dress (form) to Impress

2010-06-02T11:24:00.001-07:00

Life is good and is now going to get even better.

Thanks for a great birthday gift Cordell! Can’t wait to get started.

Now Who’s With Me?

2010-05-26T21:11:00.001-07:00

So I had a birthday this weekend and with another year comes another bit of wisdom. Here are some not so wise words to share.

1. Even when the opportunity knocks, you still have to get off your behind and open the door.

2. I think part of a best friend’s job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

3. Nothing stinks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.

4. I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to bap when I was younger.

5. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

6. Whenever I’m Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I get so excited. 546 pictures? Don’t mind if I do!

7. Was learning cursive really necessary?

8. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I’m pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

9. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

10. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

11. Bad decisions make good stories.

12. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

13. Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I’m imaginary smart

14. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my lengthy, time consuming project that I swear I did not make any changes to.

15. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this - ever.

16. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dang it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voice mail. What did you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

17. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

18. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

19. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

20. I sometimes try to hold off on going to the bathroom because I have 18 other things to do real fast.

21. Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.

22. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand causing my arm to almost rip right off than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

23. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.

24. If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.

25. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

26. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent an punk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

27. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

28. Answering the same letter three times or more in a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

29. Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for a pedophile…

30. There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

31. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

32. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but you can bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!

33. I find comfort in a good worn in pair of jeans. I fear that the day I wash them I will no long be able to fit back into them.

34. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

35. You can find anything on the internet. How to make cheese and more of this.

Now can I get an amen sister? What are your thoughts? Let’s get this list a growin’.

20 something degrees

2010-05-24T14:03:00.001-07:00

Who goes camping in 20 something degrees? The Watson family that’s who!

Yep, for our “Fun Friday” we decided to go camping for real this time in Tehachapi. We packed up our camping gear, made tinfoil dinners to be eaten later that night. We brought stuff for s’mores, Dutch oven peach cobbler and pancakes and bacon for breakfast.

I managed to get three photo’s. One when we got there to start our fire and the other two when we got home to capture our visitor we had at 4 a.m., who by the way stole our bacon and my mixing spoon! We would have had more pictures but while Cordell was making dinner, keeping the fire going and making our breakfast the rest of the family spent the better rest of the time in the car trying to keep warm.

So here you have it, the first ever Watson camping trip.

Starting the fire

The Coon who stole our goods. He climbed on our seats, got in to the cooler and had a great time. Makes for a great story the kids love to tell over and over again.

Next time we will make sure it is much warmer, it doesn’t dip down in the teens overnight, the trees aren’t covered with ice in the morning and we bring a lock for the cooler.

Dino-Zzzz’s

2010-05-18T18:45:00.001-07:00

It looks like it was a rough day in imagination land. Oh, and he’s been wearing this the past 2 days straight.

You say it’s your birthday….

2010-05-10T20:44:00.001-07:00

It was Talmage’s 3rd birthday this weekend. We celebrated it by doing what any other little boy (or just mine) would want…dino style. He loves dinosaurs and can name just about any of them we throw his way. His favorite color is orange so we had to get a little of that in too. Other than that it was a small family party and we all had fun.

I can’t believe he is three. So crazy. Time sure does fly when you are having fun and he is all fun. Minus a few meltdowns here and there but I guess it comes with age. He is a pretty funny kid. Uses all sorts of different and weird voices, loves to pretend to be a dinosaur or puppy but will ask first if he can be one. “Mom, can I be a t-rex?” or “can I be a puppy? What is my name? How about hopscotch.” What ever makes you happy little guy.

Glad to have him a part of the family even if he does keep his other brothers up late at night! Now go to bed already!

Pirate Feet

2010-05-07T13:14:00.001-07:00

Yep, that is what we call feet that look this bad! I guess I better start putting shoes on this kid!

They grew them and we picked them

2010-05-03T10:18:00.001-07:00

And they were delicious! We spent a few hours at the Murray Family Farm on Saturday where we enjoyed a free pancake breakfast, took a hayride tour of the farm, visited the petting zoo and picked the most tasty strawberries ever. We had a great time and sadly we have eaten just about all of them in two days. Mmm!

Hayride Picking

Strawberries Happy Family

Bumbleberry

2010-05-01T16:47:00.001-07:00

According to Grandpa, bumbleberries are burple and binkel berries that grow on giggle bushes, so named because they giggle when the berries ripen and the bush begins to quake, and at the precise moment that they ripen, they giggle. If you were to eat a berry while it was giggling, you would spend the rest of your life giggling.

If you haven’t visited here then you just might want to!

Watson’s Fun Friday

2010-04-26T12:55:00.001-07:00

So each Friday we try to do something fun as a family deemed as “Fun Friday” and this Friday’s activity was no exception. Who doesn’t love a little backyard campout now and again? Especially when it looks like this…..

Tinfoil Dinners

Delicious Goodness!

All ready for a cold Bakersfield night.

GOOD MORNING!

Hope you will join us next time!

On the go…

2010-04-21T14:49:00.001-07:00

Does this mean he’s not a baby anymore?

1!

2010-04-16T10:48:00.001-07:00

Maddox has turned 1! I can officially say that my baby has turned 1. When did this happen? It seems like he is only 4 months old. Oh Maddy, don’t go growin’ up on me like that.

Our Maddox has been a great addition to our family. He is so much fun. He is such a good boy. Really he is. He never fusses (unless his older brothers are using him as a rag doll to toss around), rarely cries or makes much noise which is nice while driving around in a car full of other loud kids.

His smile and eyes keep me mesmerized and I just can’t get enough of him. I miss him when he sleeps and can’t wait to hug and hold him when he lets me.

To celebrate, we had a small party with some family and friends in honor of the birthday boy. A party full of fun, food, games, excitement, laughter and a lot of color. It was a great night!

So let’s hear it for our boy!

How does the saying go?

2010-04-13T10:27:00.001-07:00

You can dig yourself in to a hole? Or you can’t dig yourself out of a hole? Either way this sure did apply to Walker on Saturday.

The kids were all outside playing in the backyard. I was inside resting and dad was on the computer. Then Abby comes in saying Walker needs help. She heard some whimpering and found that he was stuck. She tried to explain how he was stuck behind the gate. She tried to pull on the gate but it wouldn’t open. We thought he went on the other side of the gate and they couldn’t open it up to let him back in to the yard.

Cordell goes out and then comes and gets me. He said I have to see this and he grabs the camera. Good thinking! I guess Walker thought he could dig his way out of the backyard through the gate and then well……

Poor kid. He must have scared the pee out of himself. Is it fair enough to say he’s going to hate me in about 5 yrs for this?

Spring Break is OVER!

2010-04-09T10:27:00.001-07:00

Are you as excited to have school back in session or is it just me? I thought that if we kept busy during the week then it will just fly by and there will be no reason for anyone to get bored. We did have a few days of fun.

Monday:

OUT SICK! Way to start off the week!

Tuesday:

CALM with some friends

Wednesday:

I had a Dr. appointment and the kids played at Grandma and Grandpa’s. From what I hear they enjoyed snacks, playing with toys and Grandpa’s famous Pinewood Lake boat ride.

Thursday:

Made 2 dresses with Brooke for her daughter Allie. They have two weddings this summer and why not make them? So far they are turning out really cute.

Friday:

My sister Kristy came to visit for the weekend. We spent the day in Pasadena where we shopped, had lunch and were ready to go to the kids museum until little T got sick. Check out the before (when he was having a good time) and the after (when he puked in the check out line at J Crew) pictures. Good thing I had a sweatshirt for him to get sick in. I also thank the nice cashier who handed me a pump bottle of hand sanitizer after he puked all over himself and his little brother to whom he was sitting right across from in the stroller.

Saturday:

Went to a family birthday party for my niece who is turning 1. Then Kristy took some pictures of the kids. Some last “little girl” pictures of Abby and some of the boys so I can finally finish their bedroom. I’m dying to see them. I’ll post those later.

Sunday:

Easter Celebrations at 7:30 a.m. It was freezing!

Monday:

Visited the Insect Lore in Shafter with our great friends the Devan’s.

Now on to another busy week and more fun activities this weekend. Stay tuned….

Get Better

2010-03-30T16:50:00.001-07:00

This is what I woke up to this morning after being really sick (for the second day in a row) from my guy Walker. If this breakfast didn’t make me feel better the card sure did.

Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar?

2010-03-25T10:32:00.001-07:00

vs.

It sure wasn’t me! And if your cookie jar is full of this years Girl Scouts version of Thin Mints it probably wasn’t you either.

I never do this. I’d rather let things be but I couldn’t let this one go. Here is a recent email I sent to the good old Girl Scouts of America in hopes that they will hear my cry and maybe yours too.

Dear Girl Scouts of America,

I am like every other American who looks forward to spring. That one time of year that girl scout cookies are available. I have always placed a hefty order to make sure they can last me through the year (ends up being a few months).

To my surprise and dismay I was sad to see and taste some unwelcomed changes to some girl scout cookies. Is that even possible? Why would anyone mess with such a perfect item? The perfect recipe. But they did. I (and am sure others can join me) DO NOT like the new Thin Mints. They look different and more importantly TASTE different. I have given them away because they just aren't the same. I thought to myself “was I sold some kind of knock off cookie?”

I have family in a different state who luckily order by the cases too and were so kind to share their classic Thin Mints that have not been messed with. I love those much better. They are the original, the real thing.

Please go back to the way things used to be. The way they should be in the perfect world of girl scout cookies. If not I may have to start purchasing out of my area to get the better ones again.

Thank you,

A sad cookie lover

Here is their response a week later

Hi Rebecca,

Thanks for your message to Girl Scouts of the USA. We're sorry you are not satisfied with the GS Cookies you purchased. We will share your comments with our Cookie Review Team here at the national office and with our Bakers. Thank you for contacting our national office.

Girl Scouts of the USA
Building girls of courage, confidence and character
who makes the world a better place.

Now if their mottos is true they can start making the world a better place by correcting the Thin Mint cookie!

Day in the life

2010-03-12T11:23:00.001-08:00

Here is just a snip of what happens in the life of a 2 yr old. I was getting stuff done around the house and checking up on things on the computer. That is when I looked up and saw this…..

I can only imagine the thought process. “hmmm, I see a snow hat sitting there. Maybe I'll put it on the top of my head.” Or as he says it "hayd" I think he's part Canadian.

He’s is such a funny kid and keeps me laughing all morning when it’s just the two of us around.

I’ll take it!

2010-03-11T17:56:00.001-08:00

Um, are they selling this at your Build a Bear? I’ll take her!

This was during our trip to the mall when we were all out in Utah last week. She climbed right up and found herself a great seat.

It has been a long time since I saw Lilly and I was so glad to get to know the adorable little girl that she is. I love her smile, her enthusiasm for small things like lip-gloss, her girlyness and mostly that adorable squeaky girl voice of hers. I love when she hung out with me while I was getting dressed and sang songs to me the whole time. She is like my little friend that I haven’t seen for years and she was so able and willing to love a new stranger.

Thanks Hall’s for a great time. More pics to come!

2010-03-01T11:24:00.001-08:00

See you soon!

Hmm that’s silly

2010-03-01T11:03:00.001-08:00

That is what I thought today as I sat there sitting in my car waiting for the light to turn green. I was looking around and noticed a woman walking out of the gas station wearing overalls. “Hmm that’s silly” I thought to myself. I haven’t seen a grown woman wear overalls in years. That got me to thinking. Thinking of how much I secretly love to wear overalls and because it may be considered a fashion no no I don’t wear them in public anymore. That’s a shame because not only are they super comfy (no tucking anything in or tight waste bands) they hide any and all flaws a human body could have. Heck, you could smuggle a family of 8 across the border wearing overalls and nobody would even notice.

So that got me to thinking. What else do I love that I keep to myself. What are some of those things that make me well…me. I came up with just a few

1. I love AFV so much that I actually cry laughing so hard.

2. I can’t say the word jewelry and have apparently passed that on to my daughter.

3. I hate cherry’s cooked in things like yogurt or ice cream but love them fresh. Same goes with Strawberries (except home made jam).

4. When I eat at a restaurant I have to sit where I can see everyone in the establishment in front of me. I don’t like sitting with my back towards people and I’ll fight for that seat.

5. I still count using my fingers. (that’s embarrassing to admit)

6. I am still convinced that I wrote the song “Built this City on Rock and Roll” when I was in the 5th grade.

7. I’m pretty sure that the imaginary dishwasher I had as a kid is way cooler than any real imaginary friend.

8. If it weren’t for spell check you’d have a hard time understanding what I type.

9. Sometimes I think inanimate objects have feelings. Like towels, spoons, clothes and anything else really.

10. When I get really scared (like in movies or Halloween) I feel like I am going to get stabbed in the back so I have to sit against a wall or lay flat on the ground. Maybe there’s a relation to #4.

11. I have a tendency to us comma’s too often and probably in all the wrong places. Could someone give me a grammar lesson?

My sister and I have a saying that “there is a little bit of carnie in all of us.” Carnies are those circus freaks that set them apart from the rest of the human race. Something that makes them a little different, a little odd.

So what are your “carnies” or things that make you say “hmmm that’s silly”? Please tell me you have some or I’ll really think I should be put in the circus.

Birds and the Bees

2010-02-23T20:25:00.001-08:00

It has been on my mind lately that I might need to have "the talk" with my soon to be 8 yr old daughter. We haven't talked about “it” at all and she hasn't asked. Does that mean she doesn't know anything? Maybe she's hearing stuff at school or from her friends. Who knows. Until this little conversation we had while walking home from the bus stop made me rethink things with her and how much she knows.

In talking about Punxsutawney Phil (long story how we got on that topic) and she asked how do people know that it's a boy and not that it's a girl. "Well girls and boys have different parts" I say. "They do?" she questioned. I answer with a "Yes. You have different parts that Walker does don't you?" "Oooooh. That's right. But I didn't know all animals were like that. Just Lions and Deer." "Lions and Deer?" I said. Then she explains it to me "Yes, some deer have big.....antlers and some don't. Maybe that's how you can tell the boy and the girl deer apart. And Lions too. The dad lion has a lot of hair around his face, a mane. The girl lions don't. So I guess they do have different parts after all. Oh, and roosters and chickens too."

Well, either I have nothing to worry about with my innocent naive 7 yr old or I am way behind on the "Birds and the Bee's" talk. You tell me.

Roll over I’m crowded

2010-02-22T09:55:00.001-08:00

I guess this is what happens when three boys share a room. Sadly this wasn’t and hasn’t been the only time this has happened.

9 Months

2010-02-17T08:39:00.001-08:00

So he’s really more like 10 months now. Guess I’m a little late on this. Maddox is such a fun boy and is growing up so well. He is wanting to be “one of the boys” more and more. He’s so happy and such an easy going baby. We love our little guy.

A wise man once said…

2010-02-15T19:20:00.001-08:00

Ok, it wasn’t a man but a fortune cookie. A fortune cookie that came from a very fine and creditable eating establishment. This is what they had to say:

“You are always welcome in any gathering. Host a party this month”.

How did they know? I’ve been planning a party (ok, a baby shower) that is going to be in a few weeks.

Then came this one:

“Soon wedding bells are in a family member’s future.”

Do they know something we don’t know? Sure hope so. Stay tuned…..

Beautiful Leonard

2010-02-12T16:46:00.001-08:00

I saw a man today.

I saw a man while sitting in the waiting room of a medical facility.

I saw this woman pushing this man who I assume was her husband.

I saw this man and woman who look most likely to be in their early 80's.

I saw them sitting waiting for their named to be called.

"Leonard."

I saw the woman push Leonard in his wheelchair towards the door as his name was called.

I saw a bronze name badge pinned to Leonard's shirt.

I felt the tears well up in my eyes over this beautiful man, this beautiful couple.

That beautiful woman taking care of her husband who from the presence of a name badge may or may not know his name from time to time.

If he needed his name pinned to his shirt I wonder what else he may not remember.

Thank you beautiful couple for touching my heart on this great Valentines weekend when I was starting to forget what true love looks like.

It's not commercial. It's real!

Frogs and snails and puppy-dogs' tails

2010-01-29T18:08:00.001-08:00

Isn’t that what little boys are made of?

I’m still getting used to the fact that I am going to raise 3 boys. To me boys have always been dirty little creatures who love mud, bugs and picking their noses. When it comes to animals I thought they all loved every creature on God’s great earth and especially any thing that could fit in their pockets. So it was quite a surprise when I found a huge frog on our front walkway. Ok, not so much the frog itself but more what my two boys did with this frog.

We wanted to catch it but who was going to pick it up and put it in a box was the real dilemma.

Walker convinced Talmage to put it in a glass jar. Talmage was too afraid to touch it so he just held out the jar hoping it would hop right in.

Walker didn’t want to touch it himself so he got some gardening gloves and still would only come in 3 feet of the frog.

So they had a brilliant idea. Rig a trap with a dead snail for food. When the frog goes to eat the dead snail it will get trapped under the box.

Then they waited patiently…..

Frog got away.

Just Help Yourself….

2010-01-28T14:14:00.001-08:00

To a weekend away with some awesome ladies? To the night life of Vegas and all the good food it had to offer? To some great shopping not found anywhere in Bako? To the most fun I’ve had at any concert I can remember? To the sweet voice and moves by Tom Jones? To the performance given by 7 ladies at the said concert? To each I say YES, don’t mind if I do!

If you haven’t seen Tom Jones in concert I highly recommend putting that on your bucket list! An experience truly any lady must have before she dies. And when you go to this life changing concert you must partake in the scandalous tradition, the ol’ throwing of the undies. But not just any undies. Incredibly large, satin, show stopping pair that have probably even been thrown his way. Or go one step further like my sister and I did. You dance all night twirling them in the air until you head down stage, call the bass player over, hang said undies from the end of his bass and watch him play around the stage with them still on. Even the guitar player, the keyboardist and Tom got a kick out of it not to mention the entire crowd who laughed and cheered like mad. Now who was putting on a show for who?

Now I’m home, my body is sore and I still can’t believe all the fun I had over the weekend. Thanks ladies for a great time. Hope I didn’t embarrass you too much.

Some sweet kicking ladies!

Me and My Sistah!

Fun at the Concert with the famous undies!

Perhaps I’ve shared too much? Naaah.

Silly Monkey

2010-01-19T14:41:00.001-08:00

If this just doesn’t make you smile then I don’t know what would. Got to love this silly little monkey. We do!

A Happy Somewhat New Year!

2010-01-19T14:38:00.001-08:00

It’s true that if you don’t take time to download your photo’s from your camera you forget about them until weeks or months later. Forgot about our New Years party that occurred at the late hour of 8:00 p.m. We had drinks, fun food, noise makers and silly string. We did the count down then let the kids go wild with the silly string. I guess I could have warned them what that stuff was really all about. Abby went wild spraying everyone and everything she could. Walker and Talmage acted like they were some sort of Alien fingers shooting out of a can to grab them and take them as prisoners. Needless to say they was not a fan of that stuff but dad sure wasn’t shy when he grabbed the can from him and sprayed me. Oh the good times we had!

See you next year!

Saturday is a special day….

2010-01-17T06:54:00.001-08:00

It’s the day we get ready for Sunday. By doing so one of the things we do is pick out what we are going to wear to church the next day. After all 9:00 church comes early when you have three kids and yourself to get ready.

In planning out what Abby is going to wear we just decide to make her a skirt for Sunday. We have some spare time during our Saturday afternoon so after a few minutes (probably like 25) and some material we found we ended up with not only a skirt but a headband with a layered flower (made one for me too) and another headband I made out of some ribbon I had.

Saturday’s have turned in to my shopping and crafting day. What will the outcome be of my next weekends? Any ideas? Send me pictures, ideas or links to other sites and I’ll figure how to make it.

For those other people out there in the middle of projects to you I say happy ~~crafting~~ DESIGNING! Designing is my new word replacement for crafting. Sounds so Twenty Ten and not 1982.

Mr. Mom

2010-01-15T11:39:00.001-08:00

I would just like to thank our very own Mr. Mom for a job well done yesterday. While I was out sick he took over at full speed to get the kids fed and ready for school. Lunches made, kids carpooled to school. Picked kids up from the bus stop. Managed two little ones at home with meals and naps. Babysat three other kids all afternoon while making dinner for the family. Not to mention bathing all the kids, getting them dressed for bed and put down at the appropriate bedtime. Still had time to meet with a church member at night and had the kitchen cleaned! If only I could be half the mom he was yesterday! Thanks again and I love you for your sacrifice and ability to take over! Pray this won’t happen again any time soon!

Getting to know you….

2010-01-11T19:19:00.001-08:00

With a new year comes a new class for my primary going children. What is typical of the first class of the year? Mostly some Q and A to get to know the new teacher and the teacher to get to know the new kids. However, we learned a little something new about our son Walker too….

Q: What is your favorite food?

A: Watermelon

Q: What is your favorite color?

A: All the colors in the rainbow.

Q: Who is your favorite Prophet?

A: Noah

Q: What is your favorite sport?

A: Jumping over two rocks.

Hmmm, do you think they have a scholarship for that sport?

Got Milk?

2010-01-09T15:40:00.001-08:00

I know a few goons that do!

This is what happens when you start cleaning out old boxes and find some of the best stuff ever. TEARS I tell you! Sadly I sat alone (with Cordell looking on) laughing so hard that I couldn’t speak. Not sure he could appreciate this treasure as much as I do.

First I’d like to thank Susan G. Koman and the Race for the Cure. A thank you to my family for one of many great sisters (plus a brother this time) weekend from 2002. A heart felt thank you Polaroid for instant pictures. Why have you left us? Lastly, thank you scanner machine for allowing me to show not only my family these but the rest of the world who can appreciate such ridiculous humor my family has. I love and miss you all!

Let’s start with the nice picture…

Mmmm. Looks good.

Give some milk to the runt in the back.

No, no. That’s too much milk!

Lastly, the evidence of how fun the photo shoot was!

I think I peed a little when we took these pictures. I think I peed a little when I saw these again. Hope you did too!

Is it possible?

2010-01-08T14:01:00.001-08:00

Is it possible that Mr. Monty Burns has a son? I knew Edward looked familiar when I saw him in Twilight.

BTW….Fan of both shows so don’t be hatin’.

A year of NEW

2010-01-01T14:04:00.001-08:00

Is it possible to be changed by someone I’ve never met? To be inspired by someone I’ll never know? To change the way I view EVERYTHING by someone I’ll never be like? Sounds impossible but it’s true.

I spent most of the last day of 2009 reading an article about her followed by her blog which led to more articles which led to you guessed it, more blogs. I can’t stop thinking about her. I can’t stop thinking about her amazing journey and her amazing style.

Sure I’m one of only 40,000 plus readers of her blog. Millions of viewers that have seen her on Oprah and the Today Show. I am sure I can join all of them as someone who’s been ~~moved~~ no CHANGED by her.

What a perfect time to experience this change. The new year has come and so has many new “news”.

A new view on life. Life can be very simple. It can be very hectic. It can be very discouraging. It can be very rewarding. It can be what I want it to be because I am the only one to make decisions on what I want my life to be.

New view on the way I see my children. I am looking at them through new eyes and I love what I see deep in each of my four children. Their laughter is contagious. Their love is sincere. Their concern is genuine. There service is selfless. They play to have fun. They sleep because they are tired. They stop eating when they are full. If we could all be like little children.

It’s the new way I see my family. I love and miss my parents and my sisters so much that at times it really hurts my heart that I am not close to them. That I can’t just call and say “hey, let’s do lunch”. That when I find a craft that I’m dying to try they aren’t here to join in the fun and design with me. That the new dress I have just found should be owned by all of us and even better that I found it on sale. I want to be closer to my sisters in more ways than one and that is my new goal this year.

The new style or rather the repressed style I have hidden deep down inside of me is dying to come out. I’m going to ignore the voices that tell me “it’s not ideal, it’s not the trend (actually it is really becoming the trend more so), it’s not functional, it’s not cheap, it’s not found in Bakersfield” and make that style my own again. Sure I may have freaked Cordell out this morning when I said I wanted to redo my entire house. Sadly I’m sure he knew I was a little serious. I love old things. I love bright colors. I love vintage and delicate things. If I could I would live in my Grandma Uzelac’s house just the way it was when I was 8 yrs old. The beautiful speckled floors, the detailed bed spreads, the floral bathroom full of color. The front room filled with so many beautiful trinkets that she rarely let any of the grandkids in that room. I want an old house full of windows, color on the wall, and full of life. Oh, can I also have my grandma’s flower garden on the side yard too?

A new me is on the horizon. I’m going to wear things that make me happy and not worry about weather or not it’s “in season”. I’m going to make things without analyzing too much or worrying that it’s not perfect. Nobody else is going to notice right? Just the fact that I was able to make something makes me happy. I’m going to craft or what my sister and I like to call “design” (sounds better than crafting) more. I used to love finding old pieces of furniture and remaking them over. Sew more too. I’m going to spend more quality time with each of my kids developing their character and hopefully trying to teach them along the way. I would like (well not really) to take more pictures of me with the kids. I am always the one behind the camera and hate the way I look in pictures. Sad will be the day when my kids can’t find a single picture of their mom when they were kids because I was to self conscious to take one. I’ll try better.

I’ll try better at my church callings. I’ll try better being the kind of friend my friends deserve. I’ll try better thinking of ways to serve instead of excuses not to.

Lastly, I’ll try to blog things of importance and not make any future posts as long as this one has turned out to be. I’ll be happy that I posted this because like any real person who has an epiphany or new years resolution it doesn’t last past January 12th. I’ll just read this post once a week to make sure I’m on the right path.

Happy Holidays

2010-01-01T13:53:00.001-08:00

Or as Talmage would say it “Merry Fisfass”! What a great Christmas we had. Dad was able to be home all week with us and that was a holiday miracle in of itself. Did some last minute Christmas shopping, walked the mall, ate out, went to the movies, had a family party, 9 holes of golf (just dad of course), night out with the ladies (just mom of course), watched about every Christmas move/cartoon the kids could find, ate sweets until my eyes popped out, wrapped presents until wee hours of the night only to run out of tape and enthusiasm to not even caring what the wrap job looked like. Managed to check out the Santa tracker, leave cookies and egg nog (or Christmas Milk as Walker calls it) for Santa, carrot for Rudolf, and candy for the elves.

The kids could all agree that they had a pretty good Christmas. The boys played with their new toys all day for about 4 days straight. It got so bad that Talmage could not fall asleep. Talk about mind overload. From Spike the Dinosaur, the jungle set and train tracks, they never stopped.

Abby enjoyed her new fur real kitten which she named Mrs. Fluffy, Whiskers for short. Clothes she got (she’s a girl, what do you expect). Barbie, Barbie make up, Barbie house furniture, Barbie movies and Barbie camera.

I still can’t believe it has come and gone. It feels like Christmas should be two weeks away. I’m learning the more kids I have the faster life gets. I better slow down or just stop having kids.

Here’s to getting more organized for next year. Creating and doing things on the to do list. To enjoying the little details of Christmas and the season. I say this now, let’s see what happens in a year! Until then….

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care……

Christmas Morning

Happiest Baby with his new toy

Dressed up for Church

See you next year!

Rub a dub-dub

2009-12-17T15:19:00.001-08:00

This is what happens when you leave your toddler alone in the shower with a bucket of bath toys.

First Hair Cut

2009-12-17T09:42:00.001-08:00

If you think I am going to say it is Maddox’s first haircut, you’d be wrong (and just shown you haven’t followed my blog enough to know that’s already happened). Talmage had his too (also in my past posts). Walker, well I wasn’t bloggin’ at that time but too, that would be a no. So who’s left? Could it be? You’re thinking, “no, that doesn’t make sense. What is she talking about?” It’s our 7 yr old girl Abigail. Yep. her first hair cut at 7! He hair grows SO slow that I have never needed to have it cut. Sure I took the kitchen scissors to it now and then to cut some weird pieces or to even off one side but nothing done by a professional. So thanks again Aunt Kayde for another milestone at the hands (and scissors) of a professional.

My wish list

2009-12-06T15:37:00.001-08:00

If any of your male significant others are having a hard time trying to decide what to get you this year for Christmas, this guy has a great idea.

“Give her the gift that even Santa can’t deliver.”

Another reason for lovin

2009-12-06T15:32:00.001-08:00

I couldn’t keep this one to myself. It wouldn’t be fair to the ladies out there. Can’t wait to see you soon TJ!

Oh the joys of boys

2009-12-03T16:38:00.001-08:00

How does the saying go? “Sugar and spice and everything nice. That’s what little girls are made of.”

Then a cold, some candy and a sandbox too, what else do you expect a little boy to do?

Good thing I didn’t take a picture of his hands too. They look like the bottom of some dirty old shoes.

A new obsession?

2009-12-03T10:10:00.001-08:00

If any of you know me you know the kind of person I am. After all, there are two kinds of people in the world….those that like Neil Diamond and those that don’t. I LOVE him. I love his songs, his style and his moves. Sure he’s old but man, there is something about him that makes me smile and get a little giddy. But thanks to an introduction from my sister, I have a new obsession. Why haven’t I seen this before? Don’t worry Neil and my fellow members of the Neil Diamond fan club, he’s not being replaced. I feel a little guilty like I’m cheating on Neil but he is my one true secret love. By the way, I’m married to my real love so don’t think I’ve gone way off the deep end (just a little bit). But with this one, do you blame me?

Am I right ladies? If s - x had a face and dancing legs we’d call it TOM JONES! Who’s going to join me at his next concert?

Perfect Pick

2009-11-18T15:04:00.001-08:00

When life doesn’t give you what you want....pick your own ending!

Anyone have a wipe?

2009-11-16T13:00:00.001-08:00

What happens when you try to feed Garden Vegetable Baby food to a very tired baby? You get this….

Which turns in to this….

Then ends up like this….

Next time I’ll try to feed him a little earlier.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-02T12:48:00.001-08:00

Halloween came and went this year with bang. Another great candy crazed holiday that sets the rest of the holiday season in play. A night spent at a ward Trunk or Treat with some family and friends. Then back home to do some classic door to door trick or treating. There is nothing like dressing up in some crazy get up and going door to door begging for sweets. Since it’s not age appropriate for me to do it, I’ll send my three kids out to get mom her sugar fix! I knew I had kids for a reason!

Trunk or Treat!

Abigail as Cleopatra

Walker as a Dragon

Talmage as a Dinosaur

The Boys and their Bee’s

My Magnificent Mustang

2009-10-27T10:07:00.001-07:00

This month Abby was chosen by her teacher to receive the Magnificent Mustang award at school. This is where they chose a child in their class who exhibits the character quality for the month. This month was the quality of trustworthy. Kids who are:

* Honest in their words and actions

* Do what they way they will do

* Do what they know is right even when it is difficult.

* Are good friends

Wow, they hit the nail on the head with that one! They described Abigail to a T! She had no idea she was getting the award. They like to keep it a surprise and she sure was. It was fun to see her at school and to see her true self recognized by others.

Abigail is and always has been a rule follower (she get’s that from her dad). Things are black and white for her. She’s such a good example to her brothers and it’s nice to have that around in our house to keep us all focused and to chose the right!

Way to go Abigail. Your family is very proud of you and we love you!

Abigail and Mrs. Lindsey. It was black clothes and crazy tie day. Thanks dad for the “Operation” tie. Why couldn’t it have been, dress your best day?

p.s. Her award had been chewed on by 6 month old Maddox.

Holiday Decor

2009-10-27T09:35:00.001-07:00

Each year the holidays seem to be more exciting that the previous year. Why you ask? If you have young children then you’ll understand. They start to get excited about holidays about three months before the actual event. The first one of the school year was no exception.

Abby has been talking about Halloween for two months now. What she is going to be, all the parties she was planning to have (ya’ right), and all the decorations we need to put up. Needless to say we didn’t have much. Maybe one glittered Halloween scene with a tree, a house and a witch. So what did we do? We went crafty of course. Our first time with wood work and it was a fun family project to do. This is just the beginning at the Watson house.

Breast Cancer Month

2009-10-20T16:52:00.001-07:00

In honor of this month’s great cause (and to cheer up a dear friend) I’d like to quote Michael Scott: “I’m thinking next time you’re in the shower you should check yourself out. You know, give yourself an exam. Those things are like tickin’ time bags”. My heart goes out to all those who have been effected by this disease an any way.

Night at the Fair

2009-10-16T10:48:00.001-07:00

Every year we enjoy doing one of my most favorite things. Go to the fair. I’m not partial to any one fair, just all fairs. Maybe it started years ago when I would go to the greatest fair in St. Louis with my family. So what is it that get’s me so excited? Could it be:

A) The cool rides that they charge an arm and a leg for?

B) The exhibits (including all the hundreds of animals) that only the creator could truly understand and appreciate?

C) The smokin’ entertainment (thank you Rick Springfield)!

D) The awesome people watching?

E) All of the above.

If you answered A,B,C,D, or E you would be wrong. It’s

F) FAIR FOOD!

I LOVE fair food. I especially love the roasted corn that is a must every year. Now there is something new. I find myself to be quite a food fair connoisseur so when I take time to give a shout out to my new food fair find, don’t take this lightly.

I’d like to give a shout out to Boy Scout Troup 80 who have been giving the residents of Kern County a real reason to go to the fair. It’s their creation of the DEEP FRIED S’MORES! No fair will ever be the same thanks to those great boys! If you missed it this year I am so sad for you. Mark your calendar and start counting down.

Although I love the food, my kids go for the horse ride they have done the past 3 years. The only time they get to ride a real horse! Thank you Kern County for another successful year at the fair!

If you have any other great secrets of finds of the Kern County fair, please share so we all know what to schedule for next year!

Happy Belated Birthday Blog

2009-10-06T15:10:00.001-07:00

Back to school time was so busy I forgot to do a lot of things. One was post Abby’s birthday. I have also missed blogging about Cordell’s so I’ll just give them both a belated birthday post.

Abby turned 7 and is so excited that this is her last year before she get’s baptized. We always ask her why she is excited to be getting baptized and the answer remains the same “so that I can get the Holy Ghost”. I thought she’d say so she can have a new dress, have a small celebration in her honor, so everyone can celebrate her big day but nope. I guess my priorities at that age were a little different that hers are now. I’m proud of her. She is a great example to her family. Happy Birthday sweet daughter!

Cordell celebrated his own “last year” of…should I even say? Will he kill me? If so then this is the last post you’ll see from me. This is his last year in his….here I go….his 30’s! Yep, he turned 39! Last year to live it up! Maybe now I understand the facial hair, the strong desire for a new mustang and wanting to go to Disneyland. All good memories from his youth that he can enjoy before the big 40! I kid because I love him. We’ll all the there one day or another. So this is your year my love! Live it up and let me grant you any wish you desire. You deserve it because you are a great husband, a fabulous father, an amazing man and life would not be the same with out you! I LOVE you!

Weekend Away

2009-10-06T10:15:00.001-07:00

I know it’s been a few weeks but better late than never I guess. We took a vacation to Monterey for both business and pleasure. Cordell had a conference there so we all went a long to enjoy the scenery and a little town we’d never been to. I must say it was quite a joy. The weather was so nice and the view of the ocean was amazing. We spent two days at the Aquarium and the kids could not get enough of it. I was amazed with all the different exhibits they had. Walkers favorite was the sharks, Abby loved the pink jelly fish and I couldn’t get enough of the different sea horses that were there. If you haven’t been you really should put this on your list of things to do before you die.

Just for YOU!

2009-09-08T08:55:00.001-07:00

"Life isn't about waiting for the storms to pass.

It's learning to dance in the rain."

I LOVE YOU!

(Wish I were there)

First things First

2009-09-02T19:03:00.001-07:00

So there have been a lot of "firsts" the past few weeks. I'd first like to give a shout out the the Geek Squad at Best Buy for fixing my computer so I can finally get things done!

The FIRST Haircut! Maddox had his first haircut at 4 months old. That is pretty early for my kids but as you can see from the "before" picture it was greatly needed. It was a little tricky because they can't just sit up in a chair or on your lap. Good thing Aunt Kayde is such a pro that she can cut hair in any position.

Before:

After:

Then Abby and I made her FIRST back to school craft. If you know her (ok, us) then you know we couldn't just take any old plain notebook to school. We had to craft it up.

Before:

After:

Walker lost his FIRST tooth at 5 yrs old! The tooth fairy left her usual letter and $1. Not sure what he was more excited about, losing his first tooth or finally being able to buy this set of dinosaurs he’s been eyeing for a while.

The FIRST day of school! It’s finally here! Walker started Kindergarten and Abby is now in 2nd grade. Abby is excited to be back in school. Walker still asks if he has to go back every day.

If you haven’t seen my husband for a while then you wouldn’t have seen the beard he’s been sporting. It all started a few weeks ago when he went on a fishing trip with the brother in-laws and my dad. They didn’t shave during the entire trip. He hasn’t shaved since then until Sunday afternoon. He shaved in stages but I won’t bore you with those pictures (unless you request them because they are as good as the ones he did 5 yrs ago) but I will share these ones. The boys felt a little left out that they didn’t have facial hair until this happened…..

It’s been busy few weeks but from the looks of things, there is a FIRST time for everything!

Tape and some spare time

2009-08-18T14:14:00.000-07:00

So I can't believe we haven't done this sooner. Probably because I have never had masking tape in the house. I got some so I can do some organizing and needed tape to write on. Well like anything else that is new in the house the kids immediately gravitate towards it and feel the need to play with it. Tape was no exception. First I taped their hands together like in a prayer position. Abby had hers taped and Walker had his. Then I made them fight it out. Wish I had that on tape. Then made them just hug and that took some fine maneuvering. Then we just put tape over their mouths and then it turned in to this.....

It's all about who you know

2009-08-10T14:49:00.000-07:00

So I have this sister of mine who is just about the coolest person you could ever meet. Not to mention smart, talented, fun, adventurous, musically gifted, work oriented, spiritual, and good looking. I could go on forever but I don't want to give too much away. The only thing about my sister is that she is single. If you were to ever meet her you'd say "what?" because she is that amazing and not snatched up. She's back in Utah after living in San Francisco getting her interior design degree (see what I mean about how cool she is). She's 30 and looking. You'd think Utah would be an easy place to find someone but it's not.

So this is where you the reader comes in. Who do you know that is single in their 30's and available to be set up with this tall dream girl? If you don't know someone then maybe a friend or relative of yours might know someone. Let the dating begin. Don't be shy, she's not.

Oh and if she picks your lucky guy we'll pay your way to the wedding. How's that for an incentive?

Rollin rollin rollin...

2009-07-29T18:15:00.000-07:00

Our boy is rollin over. It's the small things that makes parents proud. Even with him being our fourth it's still exciting to see him grow.

Who wore it best?

2009-07-22T16:13:00.000-07:00

Ok don't really answer that! I already know the answer!

If you haven't met my sister/twin well here she is. My sister Kristy and I have gotten to be more alike over the years and this is just one documented image of that. We have the same taste in just about everything. When ever I find a new dish at a restaurant, I immediately let her know about it. When she finds a great top she let's me know so I can get one too. She recently even found a dress she knew we'd both like that she went ahead and purchased it and sent it to me. How many other people can blindly shop for their sister and hit it right on?

When we are out people stop us and ask if we are twins. I had a friend ask if I had a twin sister living in Utah because she swore she saw me at Target in South Salt Lake. She was video taped during a RS lesson for a Enrichment night. When I saw her on the TV I said "oh how nice, that's my sister". They thought it was me. When my kids were little they even had to do a double take.

I love my sister and love that I can talk to her like I am hanging out with myself. Although she lives in Utah and I live in CA we chat every day and all day. I love and miss her to death!

Picture page, picture page

2009-07-19T16:14:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year at the Watson home where we take our annual pictures of the kids. It was time for Maddox to take his 3 month picture and with all the other kids having summer birthdays we take pictures of them around this time of year. Although with this new year there was an addition of a child and all the others were a year older, including the one hitting his terrible two's. I don't need to go into it but if any of you have had the joyful experience of trying to get your child to sit still long enough to take a decent picture it's a chore in of itself. Times that by 4 and it's a wonder we got anything worth hanging on our wall. I'd have to give props to the photographer who was wonderful with the kids and had tons of patience with them. He just started clicking away like mad and that was the best thing he could have done. So thanks to him we got some decent ones of the kids. Until next year.....

What’s for lunch?

2009-07-17T09:24:00.001-07:00

So what do you do all summer with all the kids home asking “what’s for lunch” about ten times a day? You get creative.

Make home made orange Julius drinks with frozen burritos during a swim break in the back yard. Nothing says hello summer like a frozen burrito and cold drink out in 106 degree weather!

Too hot outside? Why not bring the picnic inside? My kids love to finish off almost every meal with warm tortillas with melted butter on it. They get this recipe from their dad.

Picnic not good enough any more? Go ahead and play “train ride” while mom tries to mop the floor. They are in the dining cart eating more frozen burritos and sandwiches.

Hmm, so what’s for lunch today? Any good ideas?

Shave and a haircut

2009-07-12T17:56:00.001-07:00

So if you’ve known me a while you know I have this comfort with long hair. I’ve had long hair for well, a long time. I finally decided to cut it and each time I went in I felt like I had gotten a lot cut off only to realize two weeks later that it’s still long. I’m not brave enough to do it all at once. I like to go in stages. So here are my stages. I didn’t realize it had gotten so long.

Hair was at my waist about a year ago:

8 inches later:

4 inches after that and here we are today:

If they could see me now

2009-07-12T16:42:00.000-07:00

This summer has been busy for Abigail. Between dancing, singing and acting, she's got quite the theatrical bug in her. She had her dance recital a few weeks ago and it was great. They performed the ballet "Cinderella" where she was a pumpkin. Then she did a tap number to "Surfin' Safari". They did a great job and her dance skills have really improved since last year.

Then she did an acting camp at Stockdale High School where they did a "Night at the Improv". They did about 20 different variety numbers. I had no idea what it was all about or what she was even doing until the night of her performances. She was in about 9 different numbers where she sang, danced, and was a puppet for a skit.

She loves dancing around the house, singing all sorts of songs and making up a bunch of her own lyrics and moves. Now that the performances are over we are taking a break for the rest of the summer and will start up again in fall. Can't wait to see what this next year will be like. She has decided to move from tap and ballet to jazz and ballet. She keeps us on our toes for sure.

Pumpkin

Surfin Safari

Not liking all the make-up

She gets these lashes from her dad. Lucky girl.

Action…..

2009-07-06T16:40:00.001-07:00

Here is what happens when the kids decide to put on a “movie” for me this morning. They called it “digging for dead dinosaur bones”. They laid out all the dinosaur toys they had on the carpet and pretended to dig up the fossils. While they were getting them out they started to sing “bones and bones and dry bones…” Well, you just see for yourself.

2009-06-23T16:32:00.000-07:00