Oops...sorry about that

Okay so I've slacked a little here. Don't feel singled out though...I've slacked everywhere. Where have I been you ask? Ummm I read a book. Okay four. I'm bad about that. Whenever I read I turn off the rest of my life. So if you think my blog needs a little work, you should see my house. One of my goals at the beginning of this year was to read less. And really I was doing well with that, but then the kids wanted to go to the library and I am a sucker for a good book - or four in this case. But I'll make up for it this week. I have to because I'm having company. A good friend from Utah is coming to stay a few days with me so I need to whip this place into shape.

Now onto the pictures I promised of Alexia and her good friend Kalissa's fun afternoon at my house. Kalissa's mom Renae graciously took Parker to her house and since Elijah was napping the girls had the run of the place. They took their "List of Fun Things to do During Spring Break" very seriously. We took that afternoon and crossed a few of the items off.

First up... Painting a Unicorn and Pegasus

Next on the agenda... Making Princess Crowns

Then in honor of his birthday... Reading Dr. Seuss Books

Followed by Making Cakes in the Easy Bake Oven

With the Grand Finale being a Princess Tea Party

Give up?

Teressa, (Darren's Mom) you totally know how I think!
"I figured it out the camera strap isn't the center of the picture. I only see you and Alexia."

Anyone remember this? This is a great representation of how pictures of me usually turn out. In case you don't remember, that is the camera strap in the middle of the picture of me and my kids unwrapping my presents for my 30th birthday. I have soooo many pictures of me where one side of my collar is up while the other lays perfectly flat, or my big hair has gone wild, or one side of my shirt should have been pulled down, or I'm not looking at the camera, or half of my head isn't in the picture. It has kind of become a running joke at my house to just not take pictures of me because I'm not going to like any of them.

But then Darren told me on Sunday that he thought I was beautiful and I told him to take a picture of Alexia and I. It turned into a photo shoot. :) Okay so not really. But he really did take some nice pictures of me. I'm in the middle of the picture, I have all of my appendages, and I'm in focus. These might be keepers. Although Lexi isn't looking at the camera I love this picture of her. It captures how happy her laugh is. Man I love it when that girl giggles!
If you look at this next one full screen you can see my freckles. Normally I'm not crazy about them, but right now I have just the right amount and they are okay. I keep wondering whether any of my kids will get them. Although I have more in the summer, I do have them year round so I hope at least one of my kids will get a sprinkle of angel kisses across their nose. That's my description - my dad used to tell me they were there because I chased a cow with a short stick. :)
Ohhh Ohhh and my new shoes made it into this picture. Seriously these are the cutest shoes I have owned in a while that I didn't steal from my sister first. They were a fabulous find and such a deal t00! Love that.
Okay so this isn't my real post of the day. Up later today are pictures of Lexi and Kalissa's Girls Afternoon In. Until then.....

Smorgusborg!

First off HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY and happy birthday Craig Harris where ever you may be. I try to make holidays - even the silly ones - different from other days. That's why we started our day today with green waffles. I have been the recipient of a few pinches already this morning. Anything for a day out of the ordinary around here.
Now on to more green things. But first here is a picture of Alexia and I that her daddy took of us yesterday. What's missing from this picture? Anybody? Anybody? I'll be interested to see who figures it out.

Look at these beauties! Darren and I (with extra special help from Lexi and Parker) planted five rose bushes in our back yard on Saturday. Roses and tulips - two things I miss big time from my yard in Utah. Now it's Monday and I can't get away without a garden update. Don't mind the big weed under the lemon tree in the background. Maybe next week it will be missing from the picture. This is a red potato plant that popped through a week and a half ago.This is that little beauty today. Notice it isn't as close up of a shot. It grew a ton over the week.
Lookee here. My carrots are trading in their first leaves for the fringy girly ones. {Sniffle} My babies are growing up.
And these peas...man they are reaching out to climb up something. Gotta get on that.
Now here is an answer to a tag from my sis in law Megan. What is in my purse? Well after weeding out all of the crumpled receipts and gum wrappers I found this...My purse contains: one dirty pair of Elijah's socks, sunglasses, two different kinds of lip gloss, nail shine, a hair tie, calculator, two cough drops, a Cafe Rio frequent eater card, picture and card holder, black and white photo of my sister Becca, a maglite mini flashlight, orbit gum, a single serving of the vitamins I am supposed to be taking, my wallet and coupons for my trip to Walgreens scheduled today.

So I must get on to the rest of my day now. It entails doing the dishes, cleaning two bathrooms, vacuuming the house, exercising, a trip to Walmart, Walgreens, a 3:20 Dr appointment for Parker, and this...

Happy Monday!

We're Incubating

Parker came in to tell me he and Lexi are going to be an Aunt and Uncle.

That poor mama bird's nest. It looks a little bare and she only has Lijah to blame. Looks like she just made do with what she had. You know expecting and all she probably thought she was losing her mind... "I could just swear I got more than this done yesterday." Lucky for her Lije has double ear infections and hasn't wanted to play for the past few days. She stays on the nest now even with the big kids up in the play house. I thought it might be that she had some eggs up there and so when they got a little too close for comfort she moved and I grabbed my camera. So I'm sharing the love...because we like you...and that's just how we are around here.

What a Difference a Week Makes

Remember these little peas?

Now they look like this!

And these radishes...?

They are putting on their third and fourth leaves!

Plus they have some new friends... rosemary, parsley, a second planting of radishes, Elijah's carrots and this little beauty...one of three red potato plants that made their entrance.

Happy gardening!

Tag...You're It!

1. Where did you meet your husband? Darren and I were in the same 1st grade class together. His mom was a room mom. She says I was a bossy little girl. The teacher told my parents at parent/teacher conferences, "I let Heidi do her thing and then every once in a while I have to remind her that I'm the teacher." Turns out my mother in law was right.

2. What was the first thing said? Probably some schoolyard teasing but the first time I said something to him that made him sit up and notice came our freshman year in highschool. I saw that he was wearing new jeans (a bunch of us boys/girls used to hang out at lunch together) and I told him that he looked good in them - code for nice hiney in those jeans. He walked with that cute hiney to the wall for the rest of the day. But...I know he wore them again on several occasions after that.

3. What was your first date? Winter Royalty dance our Sophomore year. Man that dress was YOU - GEE - ELLE - WHY, you ain't got no alibi, you ugly, yea yea, you UGLY!

4. How long were you engaged? Almost 3 months. We got engaged a few months after he got home from his mission on April 13th, 1999 and were married July 8th. I remember the date well because I bought my brother's truck and went to Provo from Ogden to pick it up and show off my ring to family.

5. First kiss? Good gravy it was sooo long ago! Let's see I think we were *gulp* 15 (don't kill me dad, I'm sure I told mom about it though) and it was in the summer after a baseball game - a good four months after deciding we were in serious like with each other. A month later I got a kiss to curl my toes followed by a three page letter in the mail from him telling me we should probably repent. That's what I loved about him - he was so GOOD! Our first kiss after his mission took about a month and surprised us both. I told him that I didn't want to go that route for a while and then after coming from UT to NM for a weekend surprise I called him up Saturday morning and told him I was home. He hopped in his car and drove the mile to my house. I ran outside when I saw him coming up the lane and when he got out of his car, I jumped into his arms and kissed him on the lips. Totally forgot we weren't going to do that in all the excitement to see him. We were goners for sure after that.

6. Where did you get engaged? A park by a stream in Ogden, UT. He had hidden roses under a bush by the stream and pulled them out after popping the question.

7. Where did you get married? The Manti LDS Temple. I would so live that day over again.

8. Where did you go on your honeymoon? This was one of those stupid decisions we made. Darren and I didn't really have a destination honeymoon. Our reception was two days after we got married so we just stayed two nights in a hotel on the way. There is very little on the way between Manti and Kirtland. We stayed in Greenriver - just so you know there is NOTHING in Greenriver, UT. We should have cooled our jets for an hour longer and made it to Moab at least. But when we got married we had $400 between us and hotels were cheaper in Greenriver. We both have said that to do it over we would have charged a trip to a card. But we have taken several trips by ourselves to make up for it - Los Angeles, Nauvoo (thanks grandmas for keeping Lexi), Oregon Coast mission sightseeing (thanks Alena for keeping Lexi and Parker), Hawaii - seven months pregnant (thanks Alena and Becca for keeping kids), Cozumel Mexico (Thanks Missy for coming to stay with Lexi, Parks, and Lije).

9. Do you have a song? In highschool - When You Say Nothing at All by Allison Krauss - Darren wanted me to sing this to him at our reception, sang something different. Our engagement and wedding - You are the Love of My Life by Lonestar.

Now you have all been tagged (cept you of course Camille - thanks for the idea). Let's see some pics people!

Dress Up Pics and a Plea for Help

Alexia loves to hear about what I was like as a little girl. This morning before school we had ten minutes to kill so she hopped under a blanket on my lap and asked what I liked to play as a little girl. Talking to her brought back memories and got me thinking...

As a little girl I was way into all things girlie. I loved dresses and dolls, barbies and tea parties. I learned to paint my nails and hide the red nail polish spill on my bedspread at an early age. I would have stayed inside helping my mom cook, clean, and create over doing outside chores any day. One of my favorite things to do for fun as a little girl , second only to building playhouses out of old pallets my dad brought home, was playing dress up. I longed to be older and loved to dress the part. My foot size acquired the ability to wear real high heels long before my age supported it. My mother encouraged my habit. She scoured garage sales and came home with the most fabulous things for Alena and I to add to our dress up suitcase - real patent leather purses, sling back high heeled sandals, hats, wigs, and silky robes - which I am sure were nighties in their former days. I actually remember the day she brought home the suitcase. It too was a garage sale bargain. Sturdy as all get out we could both jump on it and it wouldn't budge. It was big and heavy and perfect with compartments for the gray and blonde wigs we had. There was a pocket for jewelry and one for shoes too. I wonder if my mom still has it - it would make a great stair stepper exercise thingy. Anyway... it was lovely and we put that suitcase full of fun things to good use. My mother brought out her huge costume jewelry and Grandma Teuscher donated used makeup containers to the cause. I was in hog heaven.

Alena and I probably at the ages of either four and five or five and six taken in Kirtland, NM.

This picture is of me during March of 1980 taken with boxes in the background showing the packing going on to move from Idaho.
In Georgia I turned three and loved playing house. I got dishes for my birthday to use with my mother's kitchen cupboard (in the background) and put them to good use. That dress I called my "spin around dress." I would spin and it would lift straight up and twirl with me. I loved it and my mom said I would ask to wear it a few times a week.
Dressing up for Pioneer day in Georgia - July 24th, 1980 (2 1/2 years old) My mom (you just have to love that woman!)- look at that wagon - pity the girl would had to drag me through all of that sand.
The blue elf costume became a dress up staple after the Kindergarten Christmas program. - Taken one month before my 6th birthday - Dec 1983. Man those eyebrows are hot! *snort*

People who know me know I am not a "toy mama." Toys these days don't just leave any room for imagination with all of their electronic movements and sounds - and good gravy, don't get me started on video games! So now on to my plea for help. This is for my sisters and sister in laws, mother and mother in law and any aunts too. So for everyone else, unless you have something fabulous (like a wig) no worries. Alexia's birthday is coming up. I'd like to create for her her own dress up suitcase. I have one to use - it's flowery and not suitable for public display anymore, but it will work just fine. Do any of you have any "real" dress up items you could donate to the cause? Something that you could affix a note to telling her who it was from and what you used it for. I'm thinking of things that were not expensive or too sentimental and would be fun for dress up. Things that would hold up to little girls using but nothing plastic or fake marketed to little girls. You know like real heels that are out of style instead of the plastic princess ones you buy in the toy department. Or costume jewelry you will never wear again instead of the mardi gra beads that break so easily. An old purse, used makeup containers and brushes - that kind of thing. I think it would be fun if each thing came from someone different so it had a history rather than all new stuff anyone can buy at the store. Thanks girls!

Going on a Nature Walk...

...right outside my door. This my friends showed up on my kids' kitchen set outside in the playhouse. Darren and I watched Saturday afternoon from the porch as two birds selected the spot. I thought that the kids playing around up there would scare them off.

Can you see the little bird hanging out on the rail of the play yard? I really did think that they might not be back because after showing Parker the twigs yesterday morning I found a little "nest" on the BBQ grill. I asked him where he got the twigs and he told me that since Elijah was playing with them he decided to take them and make a nest for the birds himself. I asked him how he would feel if a big giant came and took his house away from him. Two giant tears and a "Bery, bery sad" led me to believe he would leave it alone in the future. He returned the twigs to the kitchen and I figured we had seen the last of the birds.
So this morning I went out to check again. I guess they aren't easily deterred. I think come spring break my kids will be getting a little up close and personal nature lesson.

This is square foot gardening for those who are wondering. I have been bitten by the gardening bug again. This is garden box #1. It contains 4 tomato plants, four potato plants (2 varieties), rosemary, Italian parsley, radishes, carrots, and onions. http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

This is garden box #2. It contains 4 pickling cucumber plants, peas, cantaloupe, squash, zucchini, and some more carrots that Lije planted for me (read - tore open seed packet over two square foot areas).

I'll keep you posted as to how these turn out.

This is a pea vine in the making. I planted them on the 21st of Feb so they are not yet two weeks old. I love peas from the garden! I planted quite a few of them so I might be persuaded to share if you happen to be in the neighborhood one day. I said "might" - there's no guarantee I won't have eaten them all myself.

How exciting! The carrots popped through! This is the first I have seen of them.

These are what Parker is watching. These are the square foot of radishes that he planted with me. Radishes take 26 days to be full grown. No lesson in patience there. Coming soon to a table near you...

...but only if I can keep this little guy out of everything.

He loves to be outside. And let's face it - with a nest being built and a new garden growing - there is soooo much to play with!

Odds and Ends

I asked the boys tonight to go get their PJs on. Parker had been running around in his Superman costume all evening. Apparently when I say put your pajamas on, I need to be a little more specific.

(Yes those are Spidey pjs over and under the Superman costume - we're into superheros right now at my house.)

I get the feeling Elijah missed the memo as well, but he did manage to find some slippers right?

I'm sort of embarrassed by the trailer trash look of my diaper only baby in this picture. I seriously debated leaving it off the blog. I soooo NEVER let the older two run around with just a diaper - ever. We once had some neighbors in Utah that left me wondering if they actually owned any clothes for their child. But for some reason with Lije, every once in a while I am too tired at the end of the day to chase him down. I figure I'll just hold onto the pajamas until the next time he runs past.

Parker at least gets it. While taking off his pajama top and then the costume he said to me, "Close your eyes mom, I'm gonna get amodest."

Anywho...

I'm calling on you all for help. Elijah has/had a grey elephant that he loves to death and it now has been missing for 2 days. That's 2 sleepless nights people. I have looked in every nook and cranny. (Well of course not every one because it has to be somewhere!) I need suggestions. Where would an almost two year old drop/stuff/throw/lay-down-never-to-be-picked-back-up-again his stuffed Elly? I have searched the recycling bin, all of my low cupboards, my washer and dryer, every one's shoe boxes and dirty clothes hampers, under every bed, cushion, toy box, desk drawer, outside (twice with flashlights and twice in broad daylight), coat closets, pantry closets, bathroom cupboards, linen closets. Aarrrgggg! I need my sleep and I need some more suggestions. The car and garage have been searched as well. Normally I would rule that we lost it out and about but it just happens that we didn't go out that day - at all. So bring it on. Where have your wee ones "lost" things?

Disclaimer: I haven't actually searched the kitchen garbage because you know...ewwww! Besides I am saving that for Darren. I'm all about him feeling needed around here.

Mexico Part 2: Pictures from Talum

Enjoy the pics! The iguanas were everywhere. They were huge too!

Becca and I taking a breather.
Can't help getting in a smooch.
Amazing huh?

See the iguana on the top of the wall?

My stud muffin.

Becca and Daniel walking the trails