MIA

Yes, it's been a little quite on my blog. We have spent the last two weeks sick, sick, sick. It looks like we are finally getting better, but believe me when I say it is after many trips to the bathroom. No-we don't have the pool sickness as we haven't been swimming in over a month, but we did get some stomach bug that has been through every member of our family.

Can you believe it's September? I LOVE FALL! It's probably one of my favortive seasons. I love the cooler air, leaves crunching, apple smells, wearing cozy sweaters and jackets-yum! Love it! Beginning with last year, there has been a little bit (ok a lot) of dread and worry when it comes to fall. Why? You ask. Two words. Super Saturday. Yes that's right-it's the time of year when every good and faithful enrichment leader comes up with fabulous and exciting projects to entice and woo the ladies in her ward. That's right, I'm the enrichment leader and I dread SS! It's not that I don't like the crafts (ok-I'd rather buy them already done), it's all the decisions, displaying, money collecting, calling to veryify orders, buying wood, paint, brushes, stain, food,....ahhh! Ok-I'm calm again. See I have a smile. Can't you see it? Remember soon this too shall pass.

I've been bitten..

Oh my! I just finished Eclipse and it was so good! I loved it! I am so sad that a new book won't be out for another year. I just read on www.stepheniemeyer.com that the next book will be coming sometime in Fall 2008 and will be called Breaking Dawn. For all you fans out there she also has the 1st chapter from Midnight Sun on her website that you can download in PDF format. It's the companion book to Twilight in which Edward is the narrator. I just read it and can't wait for that either-fun to read!
So now that I am out of vampire books to keep me up at night. I need some good suggestions for future reading material. I did start The Poisionwood Bible prior to starting Twilight. My neighbor suggested it. Anyone read that one? She said it's a slow start but gets really good.
Connor got sick on out way home from Shane's parents on Sunday night and oh my goodness-what a mess! We seriously had to pull off the side of a very busy road (highway) to clean up 3 bowls of cheerios! Yuck. It took me forever to get it out of the carpet under the seats. I finally got his booster seat cover all washed and dried and him packed up in the car to run an errand today when the thought popped into my head that I had better grab a bucket and a towel just in case. I no sooner got back out the to car when yep-Connor started to puke again. Luckily he grabbed the bucket. Poor buddy. I hope he gets over this yuckiness soon. No errands for us today. We are staying home.

I'm now 32....

Yesterday I turned 32. I seriously still feel like I'm 24 or thereabouts. I really am into the 30 something stage. I had a fantastic birthday thanks to my awesome husband, family, and great friends. Thanks everyone!
Shane took the day off work to spend it with me and I was greeted with breakfast in bed. S then took P to school and then took me and C to the running store where he bought me new running shoes. (I went to the gym the am and I loved them-so much more chusion than my last pair) He then took me to this great store on Highland called On Occaision. It's a darling home decor, jewlery, paper, gift store. Anyway- I told him about this bracelet I wanted-Pandora (so cute!!! you have to google this). So he set me up with a bracelet a one heart charm to start with. I seriously can't wait to start adding more charms. I just love these-they are so cute and creative without being too charmy.
After we got home Jenni and Hollie came by to wish me happy b-day. Jenni got me this really cute pink block that says " she must be something special. she is. celebrate her." Love it! It goes with the "She" book. So nice of Jenni! Holls got me two cute chunky earrings and a darling chucky brown bracelet. So cute!! Holls also brought me Chili's chips and salsa-yum!
S then took me to see the Bourne Ultimatium (got a babysitter on his own) and then took me to Red Robin for dinner.
My parents then stopped by to give me a really cute black linen skirt. I can't wait for Sunday!
Thanks to everyone for the gifts and calls-I had such a great birthday!!! Happy 32-not so bad after all!

twilight

A little over 36 hrs later and I'm done. I have to admit I was a little skeptical based on the premise of the story, but I LOVED it! I can't wait to go get New Moon and Eclipse. I may have to break my rule about buying books and run over to Barnes and Noble (gasp!). Seriously. I can't wait for the LONG hold list the library has. Such a good read!

Happy Birthday Peyton!!!

Happy Birthday Buddy! We celebrated Peyton's 6th birthday this past week and had a family party for him last night. He had so much fun for his b-day. On his acutal b-day he had to go to school, and I had been telling him all summer that we could go do something fun on his b-day. That was before we had to switch to A track and he had to go back to school before his birthday. So... to make a long story short we ended up going to Chuck-E-Cheese after school with his two friends. Needless to say they all had such a great time! Last time we went there I came home with a migraine, so I was hesitant to go, but in the end it was worth it and no headache this time around.

Yesterday we filled up a smallish pool and put it in front of the slide to have a make-shift water slide. I didn't know if it would work, but the kids had so much fun. I have to say thanks to everyone for helping with dinner and thanks so much for spoiling Peyton! He loved, loved, his presents. He takes after my Mom and said "it's just want I wanted" or "I've always wanted one of these" after every present. I especially got a kick out of the adding machine. Thanks Burton and Mel! He seriously loves it! How many 6 year olds want their own adding machine with a years worth of paper to go on it? That was a cool gift!!

(I'm still having a hard time getting my pictures where I want them. I used ctrl x to cut but can't get them to paste using ctrl v. What am I doing wrong-seriously leave me a comment so I can figure this out!!)

splurge vs. steal

10 things I'm willing to spend money on and 10 things I will not.....

splurge:
1. purses-I have always loved purses! Shane got my a really nice Dooney for Valentines this year and I love it! it's hard to go back to a cheap purse after having a really nice one. (Katie will disagree with me on this one-I do have to say the purse I just got at Mervyn's for $7 is cute, but I won't feel bad if I only use it for one season)

2. Make-up. I love, love, love Bare Escentuals. It's about $24 for foundation, but it lasts at least 6 months and makes my skin look so good. I also love their Bisque (couldn't live without it) which is also about $24, and my new love of theirs is the tinted Mineral Veil (big size is $38) I love it instead of bronzer and blush in the summer-gives such a nice glow. I could go on and on but I will wrap this one up with their brushes-love them too and worth the $20+ per brush you pay, my two favs are the bisque brush and the handi buki-love it!!!

3. Hair care-didn't use to be, but Hollie has changed my ways. My current favs are Big Sexy Hair-Sleek and Shine and Pureology hydrading shampoo and conditioner.

4. Watches-Shane got me a nice Skagen(not too expensive, but nice) for my b-day last year and it can get wet, I haven't had to replace the battery like you do on cheaper watches.

5. Photos- it's so worth it to have nice quality photos of your family. You can never get that time back, but the photo can always remind you of the memory.

6. Cameras- along the lines of the previous-you can tell a difference in quality of photos that come from a good quality camera. Still love my Cannon Rebel that uses film (gasp!), but I don't use it as often as I'd like to. Digital is a lot easier.

7. Flowers- I love flowers in my yard and don't mind spending some money on them every year. Some people don't want to spend money on annuals (and that's fine), but I do love the punch of color they give you your yard.

8. Bedding- I got cheap bedding from Walmart when we first moved into our new house and it looked terrible in 2 years. I just got much nicer bedding at Linens-n-things and I can tell it's such nicer quality. Hopefully it will last as long as my Mom's has and still look as good as hers (going on 8 years)

9. Jeans-I have to agree with Jacy on this one. It's worth the extra money to have a pair that fit decent and that you feel great in! Where are my Silver friscos?????

10. Kids clothing- for nice things such as Easter and Christmas I love to get my kids a nice outfit. I know it will wash up nice and they can wear it for months. Also kids jeans-I hate Old Navy jeans for boys-they get holes in the knees so fast. Gymboree jeans are worth the extra you have to spend.

steal:

1. Toilet paper-I don't care if it's not Charmin-if it gets the job done-I'm good.

2. Baby wipes- again don't have to have Huggies or Pampers, Kirtland Brand is fine. Think of the job you are doing and then you are throwing it away. Why waste the money?

3. Food-for the most part I don't buy brand name, I usually buy the cheapest I can find.

4. Shoes-I love shoes at Ross and TJ Maxx-that way if they go out of style I don't feel bad. Also-I've been told by my Mom that I am hard on shoes and I really am beginning to believe her.

5. Clothes for me-I do like nice things, but I won't spend a lot on summer t-shirts. I usually wear them 2 seasons or summer at most then I want new stuff.

6. Cars- one of our cars is paid off and the other will be paid off in Oct (yeah!) I seriously don't care to have a new car (unless of course it was free). Don't get me wrong I like new, but I will be so glad to not have a car payment, and really I don't know if I want a NEW car. I will really be ok with something used as long as it's been taken care of and has low miles.

7. Food storage-this goes back with food. I love doing coupons and getting a ton of stuff for $35. (I have called Jenni and Kim plenty of times to tell them my deals at Albertsons! Ha! Ha!)

8. Books-when I can get a book at the Library why pay for it at a book store? That is a no-brainer for me.

9. pots for flowers- I am not willing to spend $30+ per pot. I found a great deal at Sam's club this spring and got them for $9.87 each and they are the cute ones that look like stone.

10. Cute ones-speaking of cute ones (Jenni and Hollie know) I will not pay alot. Generic is fine with me!

and the rains came tumbling down....

It's monsoon season here in Utah-yes I said monsoon. Seriously. The monsoons have been coming up from Arizona into our lovely, dry, deseret. I love this for many reasons: 1. I love the smell of rain 2. I love the sound of rain 3. I love the sound of thunder 4. I love green grass without turning on 2ndary water (those who have it know my complaints-it sometimes smells like Utah Lake) 5. I love a break from watering the flowers! All fab reasons to enjoy the summer rain. NOTE TO SELF: DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT leave the house with the windows wide open when skies are grey and cloudy. So I got our carpets cleaned yesterday (finally!) They look awesome! Our poor carpet cleaner burned his foot so he had to reschedule until yesterday-he's gonna be ok. Anyhow-the carpets were so dirty this time and he (Jim from White Glove) did a great job-no more stains. It looks like new carpet again, we're back to NO shoes on the carpet. So when he finished he said I could open some windows since it was quite hot outside and turn the ceiling fans on high and that would help the carpet dry faster. Great-or so I thought. Connor and I left for Nordstrom to get some Bare Escentuals (whole other post) and I was planning to be back in about 1 hr. As I came out of Nordies it was sprinkling. I didn't think too much about it until I was on I-15 and it was pouring! Then the realization came that I had 3 huge windows WIDE open! AHHH! Luckily the window above the leather love seat was not getting the rain in it. Peyton and Connor's window seals were sopping wet, along with their blinds! At least the blinds in their rooms are clean now. HA!

So after I got the windows closed Shane got home from work and it started raining even harder. It was so amazing! I have never seen rain so big and so much so fast. Our builders didn't do the greatest job grading our lots (grumble, grumble) so all of us have low spots. Our foundations are great-it's at the edge of our properties. In our backyard we have 4 of us that don't have fences (love it!). It's like one giant backyard. Our cute neighbors, Tyler and Amber have this great playset that is dug down into the ground with wooden edging and then filled with the shredded rubber. When the rains started, they playset started to fill up. It was like a waterfall over the wooden edging! I was pretty cool to watch. I wish I had a picture of the water running in. The news said the monsoon should be subsiding so we will be back to HOT, HOT, and HOTTER with no relief by next week. Goodbye rains-I'll miss you.