BAD MOOD!

I'm in a bad mood today! Why, I am not quite sure. (Do I need a reason?) It's just one of those days. It didn't help that:

* I wanted to go to Nia this morning (a really fun and crazy workout class), but missed it to help Aubrey catch up on piano since we missed the last two weeks.
* Macy decided to cry so hard when I combed her hair that she made herself pass out.
* We were late to piano for no good reason at all. And I realized when we got there that I forgot to put on mascara.
* I forgot the girls' lunches (Wednesday's are one of those crazy days where I only have 10 minutes between piano lessons and getting Aubrey to school).
* Zac peed and pooped in the house before 10am.
* The cute American Eagle shirt I just bought and was going to wear today has a stain on it. Now I get to go return it and try to convince the teenager behind the register that it wasn't ME who put it there. Ya, she's never heard that one before.
* My closet is STILL a mess.
* The weather here SUCKS!!!
* Despite my efforts to create and label boxes with healthy after-school snacks, my children continue to beg for chips, candy, soda and other sugary treats. Don't they know those are all just for me?
* The rest of my afternoon and evening consists of getting kids to scouts, then soccer practice, waiting for the plumber to come and fix a leak, and then it's young women's for me. Oooh, sounds fun doesn't it?

Do I need to go on? I wish I could just crawl into bed with some of my new American Idol Mint Karaoke ice cream (yummy!) and watch my DVR'd Office and Dancing With The Stars? I guess the fact that I can't do what I want to do, but have to do stuff that I don't want to do is what's making me in a bad mood in the first place (huh?). Anyway, here's to a better tomorrow... for all of us!

Oh, and if you haven't yet voted for a purse from yesterday's post, please do :)

Which One???

Which One Part 1 - Clean my closet or blog? Hmmm... tough question, isn't it? What I should be doing is cleaning out my closet, seeing as how my pants pile contains jeans from the late 90's (yes, high waisted and all) and I can no longer remember what color my carpet is. But what I want to do is eat chocolate and blog. This post is the answer to which one won.

Wheeler Farm - Today I went on a preschool field trip with my sweet little Macy. We went to Wheeler Farm, where we visited the smelly chickens, the mangey sheep and the peeing cow (actually the cow was being milked, but Macy still thought it was peeing). A perfect outing for any curious 3 year old.

Parker and the Bee - Last week my Parker was one of 22 finalists in his school's annual Spelling Bee. Before you get too excited, let me tell you that Parker couldn't care less about this spelling bee. I heard from another parent that he had even qualified and then he forgot - twice - to bring the study list home. And if the school hadn't called to remind us about it, we wouldn't have even shown up. He gave it a good effort, but got out on the first round on the word "colloquial" (Sarah, that would be a great word of the day). The kids before and after him got words like 'canary' and 'reptile', but he gets 'colloquial'. It's a good thing he didn't care, I guess.

Which One Part 2 - finally, down to the important question of the day... which purse do you like better? I have been looking for a white summer handbag and these are the two finalists. They are very similar, I know (which is just another sign of my indecisive disorder), but I just need a push one way or the other. Help a sista out... (a special thanks to Aubrey, who wanted to model one for you).

Sweet Freedom!

Remember those days before you had kids? You know, the days where you could do whatever you wanted when you wanted? When your only worry was which restaurant or movie to go to with your husband that weekend? Oh, those were the days! Well, I got to relive those days for a whole 30 hours. It was glorious!

Marmie and Poppy wanted to spend some time with the kids while they were still off-track, so they took them (ALL of them :) up to Heber for an overnighter. Upon hearing this news, my day suddenly got brighter (even though it was raining), my step got a little quicker, and my smile grew a little wider. Not that I don't absolutely adore my children and love spending time with them. That's why I choose to be a stay at home mom... to do just that. But, as most of you know all too well, free time is a precious commodity for us SAHM's. And even better, this was "guilt-free" free time. You know, the I-don't-have-to-calculate-the-cost-of-babysitting free time. The I-can-stay-out-as-late-as-I-want free time. The I-don't-have-to-think-about-anyone- but-myself free time. Again, glorious.

I put my time to good use. For me that means that I spent little, if any, time at home. I didn't want anything to do with laundry, cleaning, bills, or anything that would even remind me of all of the things I should be doing at home. I wanted to be out. So I went - you guessed it - shopping. I bought clothes for me that weren't from Target or Costco. I went to the mall and actually got to (sigh!) try stuff on. I got my hair done and went bowling with friends and to dinner and a movie with my husband. I cranked the radio in my car and listened to something other than Radio Disney. I even took a bath. I went for bagels with my honey in the morning and I read the newspaper. I got to think my own thoughts and didn't have to worry about anyone but (as selfish as it sounds) me. Oh, sweet freedom.

Before you start hating me too much (Alisa), let me tell you that it's all over now and the house still needs cleaning and the bills still need paying. But hey, I got a couple of cute shirts, a new hairdo and I'm ready to take on the monsters (aka: my kids) again. Monsters who will need me to feed them and drive them and remind them to practice the piano. But what sweet monsters they are!

So thanks, Marmie and Poppy, for the nice break. But more importantly, thanks for making the effort to spend time with the kids. They scream with excitement at the very thought of getting to spend time with you. Then I get to hear about the ways that you make boring and mundane things like lunch or math into fun and games and why can't I do that? To that I say, "Well, you're just going to have to visit Marmie and Poppy more often aren't you?" And then, well let's face it... we ALL win :)

p.s. I promise to not use the word "I" so much in future posts (25 x is a bit much!)

Addicted!

I am definitely addicted! For the second morning in a row, I have spent hours doing nothing but blogging. I am reading the blogs of people I don't know and even (gasp!) commenting on them. What is the matter with me? It is just so FASCINATING to read other people's stories. Their day-to-day drama, their profiles, their recipes, their menu planning. Their lives are like my life - it's like we could be best friends (except for the fact that we've never even met). I've even skipped out on my morning workout and what's worse, I am "inching" my way through a leftover banana cream pie in the fridge. You know what I'm talking about. Inching is when you just take a bite here and a bite there until finally you resort to just leaving the fork in the fridge to get a little fix anytime you want. The pie slowly disappears before your eyes. It's amazing. (Hey, don't judge me... you've all been there!) Somebody help me, please. Is there any cure for this addiction? I fear it will just get worse...

Anyway, in all of my blogging I found a cool link for all of you Twilight fans out there. It is a preview of the movie coming out in December (I think). Check it out:

http://www.etonline.com/news/2008/04/60435/index.html

CALIFORNIA!!!

As I mentioned in my last post, my kids went off track so I loaded up the car and drove to CA to visit Grandma and enjoy the warm, sunny weather (unfortunately spring hasn't quite kicked in yet in Utah). We had a FABULOUS time. Here's how it went:

Drive There - the kids (all 5 of them... Parker brought a friend) were soooo good in the car. Thank heavens for RedBox and McDonald's.

Day One - swam in Grandma's pool ALL DAY. We're talking from 8am til about 6pm. I could not keep the sunscreen on these kids fast enough. Luckily, only Parker and his friend Bryson got just a little sunburned on their backs. It was about 90 degrees that day and I was lovin' it! My two sisters (Kandis and Kelly) were there too with their cute kids (Wayne and Daisy, the twins - Zane and Cody - and Juniper). Talk about kid-mania! Then we ALL went to dinner, along with Paige and Chloe, at a local favorite called Knowlwood's. Papa Dick loaded the kids' pockets full of quarters to play game after game after game. AND he picked up the tab for dinner for all 17 people. He spoils us all. Thanks, Papa Dick!!!


Day Two - swam some more, went to lunch at Carls Jr. with Kandis and her kids and also with my brother Erick's girlfriend (Erick is on a mission right now in Mexico). Her name is Amy and she is a cutie. A cutie who wants to do hair... wouldn't that be convenient? We'll see what happens with that. Erick still has over a year left. By the way, Carls Jr. has a wicked good teriyaki chicken sandwich that you should try (it's actually a hamburger but I sub the beef for chicken). Way yummy! Then we went home to swim some more.


Day Three - American Girl Store, L.A. Yup, Summer, Aubrey, Grandma and I headed to LA's super fancy Grove Shopping District for a few hours of girl time. We had lunch at the American Girl Cafe - the cutest meal you will ever have! They even have little chairs for the dolls to eat with you. So fun! Summer and Aubrey each got to pick out one outfit for their dolls. They picked outfits that totally fit their personalities - Summer a skater girl outfit and Aubrey a ballerina outfit. They were in heaven and it was fun to watch them enjoy the extra attention. Then it was home for, you guessed it, more swimming!



Day Four - Newport Beach! We couldn't drive all that way and not hit the beach at least once. So we spent the afternoon on the beach by the Balboa Pier. It was so beautiful that day - perfect weather. We even saw dolphins right off the shore. So much fun! Later that night, Papa Dick offered to watch all the kids while Kandis, Grandma and I went to dinner and a movie (I told you he spoils us). We couldn't refuse the offer so we went to Chevy's and then saw the movie 21. It made me want to go to Vegas and win lots of money! And I was told that Papa Dick only had to wipe two bums - Macy's and Daisy's. It was either him or Parker and I'm pretty sure that Parker would've hurled had he done it (he has a strong gag-reflex that Steve and I like to test every now and again just for laughs - ya, we're pretty immature parents). I'm sure that was more than Papa Dick bargained for - but he was a great sport. Thanks again, Papa Dick. It was a fun day.


Day Five - I couldn't leave CA without getting a cheap pedicure (they are only $15 there!). Then my sweet husband flew in to help me make the drive back (that definitely earned him serious brownie points), so after picking him up from the airport we hit IN-N-OUT BURGER! This is my all-time favorite fast food restaurant... they need one here in Utah! Then it was home for more swimming. This time Steve and I joined them in the pool. We ordered up some Costco pizza's for dinner and rented some movies for the night. Alvin and the Chipmunks was a huge hit! Oh ya, and cousin Chloe had a sleepover. Chloe and Summer are only 6 days apart and they love to hang out!

Drive Home - the drive home was full of RedBox movies and fairly uneventful except for the fact that Aubrey starting barfing about an hour before we got home and didn't stop until the middle of the night. She was fine the next morning, so we're chalking it up to car-sickness. My motto: coulda been worse!

All in all it was a great trip and I'm so glad we went. Thanks, Mom and Papa Dick, for your hospitality and for letting us trash your house and pool for the week. We tried to clean up, but let's just say that we hope your cleaning lady is coming soon :) And thanks, Kandis, for putting off all of your moving to-do's and bringing the kids over to hang out. My kids loved it.

Well, now it's back to real life. You know, laundry, dishes, trying to entertain kids who are off-track another week, cleaning up dog messes, going to the gym to work off the spare tire I gained (seriously...why does it always go straight to the stomach? Couldn't it go to some other "useful" places?), etc. But I am sure thankful for vacations that let us forget our own realities... if only for a week :) Now, when can I go again???

Disappointed...

Okay, I have to first start by saying that I was extremely disappointed by the lack of comments from my last post. I was definitely fishing, but I was just sure that moms everywhere would be relieved to shout out their iniquities from the top of the virtual rooftops. My mistake. But a big thanks to the 4 - who will remain unnamed (but you can go to my comment page to view - and while you're there leave a comment why don't ya?) - who DID comment. Your confessions made me laugh out loud!!! It's good to know I am not the only one who greatly understates (a.k.a. "lies") to my husband about purchases or who loves a sole trip through the McDonald's drive-thru (Filet-of-Fish meal would be my choice, with super hot fries with extra salt...mmmmm). It made me feel so much better. Now that that is off my chest, I can move on (after begging one last time for more comments... it's not too late people!).

On another note, this past weekend we did our annual "family ski day". As most of you know, my two boys are addicted to snowboarding. They go nearly every Saturday in the winter, and sometimes even mid-week. Steve has even been known to check Parker out of school to catch a few runs. Anyway, once a year we try to do a family ski day where we all go - even little Macy. We had such a great time. Below are a few pictures from our day. After the fun we headed to Heber for the night where we were waited on hand and foot by Marmie and Poppy. On Sunday, we enjoyed watching conference on the big screen in our pajamas and had a delicious lunner (lunch and dinner combined- I could've used the word conflation again, but was afraid that would be overkill of my new favorite word) of tri-tip steak, baked potatoes, green beans and strawberry shortcake. Yummy! What a fun weekend!

Yesterday, Summer and Aubrey participated in their annual spring piano recital. They both did such a great job. I am so proud of them. The top picture is from that (the ones at the piano didn't come out so well).

Steve just headed out to Moab tonight to hook up with a bunch of guys for their annual mountain biking trip. Every year, one of the guys gets hurt and ends up spending a couple of hours in the emergency room. Last year it was Steve, who split his chin open on a hard-as-stone rock from a not-so-pleasant fall. I'm hoping the tradition doesn't continue, but if it does, I hope it lands on someone else (no pun intended). My poor accident-prone husband has seen his share of bumps and bruises lately. Just last week he side-swiped a pole at the ski resort and ended up with probably his nastiest bruise yet. I would've included a picture of that too, had it not been on a part of the body that probably shouldn't be photographed that starts with b and ends with utt. You all might want to say a little prayer for his safety. I know I sure will :)

That's about it for me. I am getting ready to head to CA next week to visit Grandma and her warm, sunny weather while the kids are off track. Just me, the Denali, and the open road... oh, and four kids all sick of being in the car after the first 30 minutes. Should be fun!

I'll post more later...



Ellis Family Ski Day

Confessions of a Crazed Housewife

Today while I was at the gym, I was watching TV and saw that the popular book series, "Confessions of a Shopaholic" is being made into a movie. While I haven't read any of the books (has anyone read them? Are they worth reading?), it got me thinking... what would a book called "Confessions of a Crazed Housewife" read like???

We all do crazy things. You know, the kinds of things where you say to yourself that if anyone knew you did this you would probably just die of embarrassment. So, c'mon, let's get real (my motto)... let's just get it out in the open right here and right now (and I am fishing for lots of responses here... even if I don't know you). Think of it as cheap therapy - or maybe just a good laugh. Here, I'll start:

1. This morning after getting 2 kids off to school and husband off to work i crawled back in bed and went to sleep... til 9:30! The other two kids poured their own cereal ( I know because it was all over the counter) and watched PBS and did who knows what else... but, hey, they were alive when I woke up (never mind that they were also rollerblading on my hardwood floor). It was glorious!!

2. I lie to my husband about how often the dog poops and pees in the house.

3. Sometimes, a good 'ol Costco hot-dog really hits the spot! Just an added bonus to going to Costco anyway. I mean, where else can you spend hundreds of dollars and then feel like you got a good deal getting lunch for $1.50???

4. I secretly wish I were Kelly Ripa. She rocks!! (Mark Consuelos aint too shabby either!)

5. I sometimes steal my kids' giftcards (i.e. Target, Toys R Us, etc.). They have yet to notice!

Okay... your turn. We're all in this together, right (okay, that was admittedly HSM2 cliche). So let's hear it. How do YOU survive your day-to-day craziness? What do YOU do when no one is looking? What do YOU do when the "conflation" (that was for you Sarah, for definition see Jones Family blog) of being a wife, mom, taxi driver, laundress, cleaning lady, chef, doctor and so much more is just too, too much? And feel free to pass this on :)

p.s. let's just keep this on the down-low with the husbands. I'd like to continue #2 above for months, if not years.

What did YOU do today?

Jennifer likes to give me a hard time about not posting enough. While she is absolutely, 100% right, i just wanted to give you an example of the reason WHY i don't post very often. Here was my day yesterday:

7:15 up to get kids and myself ready (Steve was out of town)
8:00 drive carpool to school
8:30 drop dog off to get shots/neutered
9:00 home for a little laundry and to practice music with Aubrey
10:45 take Aubrey to music lesson
11:45 rush to get Aubrey some lunch (Wendy's) before school
12:00 take Aubrey to school
12:30 bowling league for a friend who just had a baby (the fun part of the day)
3:00 pick up carpool
4:00 take Parker and 2 other boys to scouts, go home to change out laundry and arrange ride for Parker to/from baseball practice
4:30 pick up dog from vet
5:30 drop Summer off to soccer practice, drive poor dog home to rest, work on YW stuff for meeting later tonight
6:30 pick up Summer from practice, grab $5 Little Ceaser's pizza for dinner
7:00 go to YW
8:30 YW board meeting
10:00 get home, too late to kiss kids goodnight (but, hey, i didn't have to do bedtime so I'm not complaining. Plus they are all so much sweeter when they are sleeping... why is that?)
10:30 take computer to bed in hopes of doing a new post
11:00 fall asleep with computer on lap. No new post!!

So, there you have it. Just a few of the reasons why I don't post more often. I'd like to say this was an unusual day, but unfortunately they are all pretty much like this... with a few variations here and there. Just busy family life, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. So, the posts are just gonna have to be sporadic (sorry, Jennifer).

As far as updates go, we did a lot over the last week (okay, two) since I posted. Here are some pictures from our wonderful Easter (it was just our family so it was very low-key Easter - I loved it), from Parker's Arrow of Light award ceremony in scouts and from just playing at the park.

Well, that's it for now. Gotta go get a birthday present, grab some dinner and run Parker to his game. See... it never ends :)