THE RIVALRY...

And so it begins; or should I say continue? Logan and Chase have begun baseball, and naturally Logan's team is the RED SOX, and Chase's is the YANKEES. Rivals in baseball, and even bigger rivals at home!! No, but really, we are having a lot of fun with baseball this year.

Chase is in T-Ball. This is his first experience, and he really likes it. We just have to work on bending his arms. He's so cute to watch - his arms are straight to his side, and he just does a little shuffle. As we cheer him on, we are yelling, "Chase, faster, faster, bend your arms!" When he gets to base, he is beaming with pride, and sends us a thumbs up :) Super cute!!

Logan has surprised us this year at machine pitch baseball. Last year there were more girls than boys on the team, and he would just daydream in outfield just loving his new tight pants!! We had to keep reminding him to keep his hands off - if you know what I mean... Anyway, this year is a different story. He is really into it, and has improved significantly. Frank even enjoys going to his games now.

And of course, the ladies (Carly, and Grandma) love the game too!

"The Happiest Place on Earth"

Last week, we finally took the kids to Disneyland. Our trip started with a stop at the beach since none of them have ever seen the ocean. Here are their reactions...

LOGAN: "Look! I found a sea shell!"

CARLY: "I'm kinda cold, but it's totally worth it to look this cute in a swimsuit!"

CHASE: "I wanna go home!"

I have to admit it was a bit cold for my taste. We were only there long enough to snap these photo's then we were off the the place where "dreams come true"!

I can't tell you how many times we had to remind them that they were at the "happiest place on earth". They had a good time, but still managed to complain that they didn't get to swim at the hotel enough. On our way to California, we stayed the night in St. George with my friend Steph. Then, we drove to the beach, then checked into the hotel. The next few days were spent at Disneyland where Carly met the princesses, Logan participated in Jedi training, and Chase ate cotton candy. We also ran into my brother's family a few times - it was fun to see them!

Thanks to the swich passes, Frank and I were able to ride on a bunch of rides too. Most of our money was spent on bribes to get Logan to go on the scarier rides with us. He didn't want to, but he'll do anything for money. We also had to pay them to smile in the picture of them below at the Dodgers game. That's where we went our last night in California. After a week "vacation" in California, I am ready for a REAL vacation!!

SAY CHEESE!

I just downloaded pictures from Logan's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese, and I'm somewhat confused. I looked at the first one, and thought to myself "ok, that's not the best. He must have been blinking or something, I'll check out the next one". So I click on the next one, and it's the same thing - and the next, and the next, and the next. It's like that Friends episode when Chandler's face is normal until the camera snaps a picture - all of the sudden this awful, awkward, painful expression washes over his face. Will he grow out of it, or is this idiosyncrasy (I learned that word in 4th grade) going to stay with him the rest of his life - as it has with Frank?? I just might need see what photoshop can actually do. Who knew saying cheese would be so difficult? Here are some more pictures for your enjoyment - or amusement?

FRANK IS HOT TOO!!

Stacy gave me crap about writing a blog about another man on my 10-year anniversary. So, I thought I would blog about the real man in my life. I never realized how little pictures we have together until I was writing this blog. I went through all my pictures, and I have 3 in 2002, 1 in 2003, and 3 in 2007. I did get a few from when it all began - those were the good ole days!

Frank is and always has been a bit of a romantic - yes, I said romantic! Here are some of the little things that make me love him so much...

1. Anyone who knows me at all, knows that to win my affection, all they need to do is feed me. Frank learned this early on, so when we were dating in college, he would surprise me with fresh avacados (priceless on a college budget), and cookies and cream chocolate bars on my pillow.

2. I cry like a baby when I'm cold, so ever since we started sharing a bed, he warms it up with a heating pad well before bed time. Even when I am gone for the night, and he is already in bed when I get, I am welcomed with a warm bed. It always makes me smile.

3. Frank has always been awesome about making me midnight snacks (more like 10 - we're an old married couple now!). I will tell him what I'm craving, and he's there with it - lickity split!

4. Sometimes Frank felt obligated to do more that feed me, so he would buy me flowers - a lot! The cute thing was that he would always pick different cards from the florist like - "it's a boy!" "congratulations on your retirement" "happy 40th birthday" "sorry for your loss", etc.

5. I am almost always sleeping when Frank leaves for work. Each morning, he doesn't wake me, but kisses my forehead before he goes. I feel like a little princess - and I love it.

Frank takes such good care of me, and I'm lucky to have him! I am so happy for the 10 years we have had together, and I am looking forward to spend the rest of my years with him. Happy anniversary!

TIM FAGEN IS HOT!!

Yes, we went to the Colbie Callait concert, but my affection lies with Tim Fagen. He was the opening act for Colbie. He was way into his music, and was so funny(kinda dry). When I got home, I looked up his website, and listened to his tunes. I tried to download one to put on my website, but I couldn't figure it out. So, if you want to hear it, go to http://www.timfagan.com/. The song I like is called Soldiers.

Enought about Tim. Me and Stacy had a lot of fun in St. George. We stayed with one of my best friends, Steph. It was great to see her - it's been almost a year since I was there last. We did a lot of shopping. You would think that going someplace new, would make us shop at different places, but, no. Our shopping destinations were, Target, T.J. Maxx, Dollar Tree, and Wal Mart. Yes, it was the best trip ever!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOGAN!

Well, he's 7!! It seems like he's 7 and a half though, because he's been talking about turning 7 for the past 6 months. I'm sure I'm not the only one who goes through that. His birthday was actually yesterday. Frank's been out of town, so tonight we GET to go to Chuck E Cheese (Yay!) The one thing Logan asked for was the Alvin and the Chipmunks soundtrack. He thinks he sounds EXACTLY like them. Ever since he got the CD yesterday, he has been planted in front of the CD player memorizing every word. For your pleasure, I have added his favorite Chipmunks song to my music player (ENJOY!)

Above is a picture of Logan with his (Star of the Week) poster for first grade. He was a little bugged that I didn't do the poster in silver and gold like he asked. He loves to be original. When he asks my opinion for a sentence or something for his homework, I give him a suggestion, and he does the exact opposite. He truly thinks he's smarter than me - he might be! Logan is a creature of habit. Last year for his birthday, I decorated his room while he was sleeping, so this year, he was sure to remind me the night before. So now, I guess we have a tradition. With Logan everything turns into tradition. He's always been self-sufficient, and very helpful around the house. He gets Carly up in the morning, and even makes her oatmeal! He has been such a blessing to us. He was such a mad little baby - he just couldn't wait to be big!! Here are some pictures of Logan during his 7 year journey...

WHAT TO BLOG: CONCLUSION!!

Alright, so it's been a while. I thought I would just blog about my prior bullet points. So, here's the update...

Carly isn't puking anymore, but can't quit bossing me around. She'll say, "mommy, I want you get my sheep bankee". Since I am in bed, I close my eye's praying she'll just go away. So, she says, "mommy open you eyes!". Then, Frank hears her demands, and kindly offers, "Carly, come here, I'll get your blankee", and she responds, "no! I want mommy get it! Mommy, open you eyes". Yes, she has my number for sure!!

The paint thing has blown over. My carpet is just a little fuzzy now. Thanks to the bissel (now ruined), I was able to get up almost all of the gallon of paint. Here are a couple before & afters...

So, the next bullet was "MISSION: GETTING KIDS OFF SUGAR". That lasted about a day. I'm sure they could do it if I could. But...I can't. So there ya go.

Next was the nightstands, and I GOT THEM!! They are pictured below. Although, my favorite is the white pedestal table (my side), and you can't see it in the picture. I have this need to get the exact same angle for the "afters". I'm hoping you can guess which one is "after". I have also added stainlees steel handles to Frank's side - now onto accessories!!!

Tax Refund? What tax refund? I don't think it ever even made it to the bank!

So, Logan's captions were funny - and his teacher said he is the only one in the class that includes a diologue box on every piece of artwork. He has now learned about the hyphen, so at the end of EVERY LINE, there is a hyphen. Here is a picture, and below is the translation (he has terrible penmanship)...

"I feel loved when...someone buys me so-mething I get c-andy I get a vale-ntine someone d-oes something n-ice for me By Logan"

And now the zoo. A few people were interested in the "dead alligator", so here it is...

What to blog....

So, here’s the deal…I really love to blog. I love reading blogs, and I would love to post blogs. But, here’s the problem…I have nothing to blog about. and I realize that I NEVER take pictures from January-March. I really have been brainstorming. Here are some ideas...

• I can blog about Carly puking down my dress during the sacrament prayer on Sunday.
• I can blog about an entire gallon of paint spilling on my carpet yesterday.
• I can blog about taking my kids off sugar so they will actually start eating “real” food.
• I can blog about the new nightstands I want from IKEA .
• I can blog about what I want to do with our tax refund.
• I can blog about Logan’s “captions” he puts on every picture he draws.
• I can blog about going to the zoo on President's day (the elephant is expecting!)(and Frank told the kids that the reason the alligator was white is because it was dead).

But really, on this cold, snowy, boring, endless day, there is only one place I would really like to be…….

BACK IN CANCUN!!

It seems like it wasn't even me, and it definately feels like a lifetime ago, instead of less than a year! It was all inclusive (that meant nachos, sandwiches, queseldillas delivered room service every night at midnight - just for fun)! It was sunny, relaxing, and pure heaven. It was playing sudoku on the beach, while Frank read his book. It was eating at a different restaurant every night and spending as long as I wanted to get ready! It was taking naps in the middle of the day. It was snorkeling through caves, then drying out for hours in hammocks while waves crashed into the rocks next to us. It was being on an airplane whithout having to drug the kids to keep them quiet. It was shopping at our leisure. AND, it was taking the dumbest pictures we could think of, like these two...

AHHH, those were the good old days!!!

I've been tagged!!

5 things on my to do list:

• Call everyone I know to see if I can come "hang out" until my painters leave.

• Find a game for Logan's 1st grade Valentine party.

• Laundry, dishes, etc.
  

• Take some pictures so I can blog

• Plan activities worth blogging about

5 jobs I've held:

• Leavitt Group - Human Resources

• Big Mountain Sandwich Company

• Sampled dips and wassail at The Quilted Bear

• Pizza Hut ("Thank you for choosing Pizza Hut, will this be for delivery, or carry out?"

• Worked in the summer with 3 autistic girls (Nikki, Michelle, and Jessica)

5 places I've lived:

• Sandy, Utah

• Idaho

• Canada

• Logan, Utah

• Bountiful, Utah - thank goodness I only needed 5!!

5 Favorite snacks:

• Dreyers peppermint ice cream

• Any brightly colored hard candy (runts, gobstoppers, nerds, sweetarts, etc)

• Rocky Mountain apple pie apples

• Crab wontons from Magraths

• Peach Fresca and smart pop - only when I'm doing Weight Watchers

5 Things I'd do if I were a billionaire:

• Go on a huge shopping spree for me - maybe even the mall, instead of my daily bargain finds at Wal Mart and Target.

• Take my family to Disneyland and actually stay at the park hotel, and buy as many $7 Lemonades my kids can put down.

• Finish renovating my stink'n house

• Buy A LOT of brightly colored hard candy

• I guess I'd save the rest (that's the PC thing to do, right?)

I tag: Stacy, Kalisa, Jessica, Tenielle, Leslie

BAG TAG

I have been bag tagged by Steph - thanks Steph! It was nice of you to think of me, even if was only to get me to update my blog! Here are the rules:

1. You have to show your bag

2. Show all the contents in the bag, no cleaning it out!

3. Bag tag 5 more people.

I know I was supposed to include my bag, but there just wasn't enough room in the picture with all my other crap! So here's the crap:

$876 in cash (American Express cash rebate - woohoo!)
4 quarters, 2 dimes & 7 pennies that I was too lazy to put back in my wallet
2 check books
A superbowl hot wings recipe from Frank's friend Ted - that Carly wrote all over
A bell from the Polar Express (yes, 2 months ago.)
Some weird froggy on a spring?!@#$
My broken cell - literally in two pieces.
An hourglass timer - what can I say, I guess I'm old school.
Sunglasses
Two invitations to valentine parties
Another psycho happy meal toy on wheels
Ibuprophen - always comes in handy
Pediatrician's business card
Coupon for Wendy's breakfast
List of how much paint I need to buy so the painter can finish the house
Carly's hair clip (I made, thank you)
A big old pile of receipts
Even a bigger pile of garbage - mostly candy wrappers!

WHAT'S IN YOUR BAG??

Tag, you're it!

1.Leslie Wagner
2.Stacy Seeley
3.Kalisa Jenson
4.Tenielle Forsberg
5.Jessica Christensen

BEFORE & AFTER

The "before" picture was the one the previous owner had put on the listing. We had the ceilings raised almost 2 feet and got rid of the corner cabinets and flourescent lights. The "New" bathroom has new floors, paint, cabinets, lighting, fixtures, sinks, tub, mosaic tile, shower, window molding, mirrors - DONE!!! Me and Frank did EVERYTHING ourselves - and we'll probably never do it again!