Tag Time

I've been tagged by a number of people lately, with 2 different tags.  Here goes:

Tag # 1

3 Joys:

1. My family

2. Sunshine and beautiful weather

3. Ice cream

3 Fears:

1. Spiders- have always been deathly afraid and I "fear" I always will be

2. That I'll get fat again

3. Losing a loved one unexpectedly

3 Goals:

1.  To keep a journal my whole life

2. To someday write/publish a children's book

3. To stay healthy and fit (see Fears)

3 Obsessions/collections: 

1. Ice cream (see Joys)- I'm definitely obsessed and often collect gallons at a time!

2. Keeping my house clean.

3. Making lists!  I make a list everyday of what I need to do that day, I make lists of what I want to do for the month, lists of things to buy, you name it.  I even add things to my lists that I forgot to write down just so I can check it off and know I accomplished it.  I am obsessed for sure.

3 Random Facts about me:

1.  I count stairs as I climb them (weird, I know and I count many other random things I see or do)

2.  I love plain white rice- I love it by itself, but could eat it with almost any meal as well.

3. I am big into hands and notice every one's hands.  I can't stand yucky fingernails or even weird or gross looking hands.  Luckily, Ben passed my hand test and has wonderful hands (whew).

Tag # 2

1. What was I doing 10 years ago:  Well, I was 14 years old, just finishing up 8th grade (OK, no cracks about my age anyone from my ward....).  I played city league softball that year (like all summers) and at the beginning of June during one of my games, playing 3rd base, I broke my ankle.  It was my first broken bone ever and it was bad!  I had to have surgery to put some screws in my leg (surgery later to remove them too) and I spent the entire summer (hot, Idaho summer) on crutches and in a cast.  I missed the rest of softball season, had to sit on the sidelines of my basketball camp and watch, couldn't go swimming when we went camping, couldn't play high school volleyball my freshman year and missed out on lots of other fun!  The perks- I got to quit my job of hoeing beets (worst job ever) and didn't have to help weed the family garden for the rest of the summer (second worst job ever).  Also- my mom felt so bad for me that I pretty much got whatever I asked for that summer.  It was the best.  

2.  What is on my to-do lift for today? (Ahhh, a list! My favorite!  See first Tag above....)  Exercise, pick up rocks from the dirt in the front lawn so we can lay sod tomorrow, order sod, blog, put laundry away (a never ending chore) and write in my journal.  

3.  What would I do if I suddenly became a billionaire? Take a big trip with all my family, hire someone to clean my house for the rest of my life, blow a couple grand on a shopping spree, buy a bigger SUV, then give the rest to Ben to invest (that would totally make his day!)

4. 3 Bad habits: (Just 3?)  1: Constantly cleaning the house- I often find myself cleaning up toys while the kids are still playing with them (I'm getting better at just sitting back and letting them play and make a mess and then clean up at the end).  I clean all the time and it takes up a lot of my time and my kids often suffer, but I'm trying to be better and limit myself.  2: Not taking out the garbage- I let it pile up and pile up, then I push it down to make more room and then 9 times out of 10 I just wait for Ben to get home and make him do it.  Taking the garbage out is so easy, but I just don't do it.  Bad habit.  3: As much as I am obsessed with cleaning, I HATE putting clean laundry away and HATE doing dishes.  I let those 2 things pile up way too long until I just can't stand it any longer.  I let the laundry pile up higher and longer than the dishes, though (probably because the laundry is hidden upstairs where no one can see and it doesn't get smelly if it's been too long....)

5. Places I've lived: Salt Lake City, UT (born there), Burley, Idaho for the majority of my childhood, Logan, UT (college), Kent, WA and currently Auburn, WA.

6. Places I have worked: Only 1 Dollar (Dollar store in Burley), hoed beets for a local farmer, BABA (Burley Amateur Baseball Association) at the Concession stands, BABA as an Umpire for softball.

7. Things people don't know about me:  Well, I admitted to some pretty random facts in my earlier tag above, but I guess one more is that I have an impeccable memory for dates and details.  One of my goals is to keep a journal for my whole life (I started around age 7 or so) but have had periods where I go months without keeping one (or I've lost portions of my journal on the computer when the hard drive crashed), but I always go back and write for those months and I can remember months and years ago what I did on that date and how I felt.  I also can remember people's birthdays really well and still remember random people's birthdays from high school or my past that I no longer see or keep in touch with.  This also goes for anniversaries and other random dates. I can also remember what I was wearing (exact outfit, color and all) on certain dates when there is no photographs to remind me and can be called upon to recall a date of the day someone said something or of an unrecorded event.  It's kind of crazy really but comes in handy quite often.  

Another thing, which can also be one of my bad habits, is I'm a big over reactor.  I'm sure it annoys my poor husband and brings more drama into our lives then is needed.

And one last thing- I write A LOT and can't seem to stop.  Thus the obsessive journal keeping and the LENGTH OF THIS BLOG.  I apologize.  

Disclaimer: And just because I have mentioned several times that I am obsessed with cleaning does NOT mean that my house is clean and perfect.  It's far from that, which is why I'm always cleaning it....

The only person I tag on this is Amanda, because she just started a blog and needs stuff to put on it!! :) ha ha

No More Pups!

I've been waiting almost 12 weeks to say this- all of our pups are gone, finally!  We just sold our last puppy on Monday and we now have none.  We sent 12 pups to 12 great homes in just under 12 weeks.  We were hoping to do it all in 8 weeks or so, but it didn't quite happen.  Oh well.  It was another fun experience, but we are glad to have them gone (especially once they start chewing everything, digging and ripping up my yard!)  

Chloe has absolutely loved every minute of it.  With our last litter last summer, she didn't have a preference for which one she held and never picked a favorite.  But this litter, as soon as the pups were old enough to get out of their box and walk around, she picked a favorite- she loved the little black runt and called her "Little baby girl."  She could pick out that pup with her eyes closed, even when all 12 were bunched up together.  Every time I would go outside to see what she was up to, Chloe would be hauling around her little baby girl like a baby doll.  She loved all of them, but had a special sweet spot for the darling little runt. 

Ironically enough, the couple that bought Chloe's Little Baby Girl runt pup named the dog..... Chloe!  We just got an email from them saying that they named the puppy Chloe after our Chloe because they knew that the pup was her favorite one and they loved the name and wanted to name Chloe's favorite one after her.  How sweet!  Chloe was so excited to hear that. 

Here are some pics of the kids with the pups over the last few weeks.

Here was my attempt to get both of the kids with all 12 pups.... pretty hard to do.  It's like trying to get 12 one year olds to sit still for a picture at the same time (impossible).  So, in order to do this, I put Chloe in the welping box, put Mitch on her lap, then piled all the pups in around them.

It worked OK for a minute, until Mitchell started to get cranky.  Upon further inspection, I realized the pups were nipping at his feet.  By the time I got to him, one of the pups had his whole foot in their mouth.  Oops........ Poor Mitch, bad mom......

Mitchell didn't know quite what to think of the pups, but they loved him!

Puppies are like kids...... the cutest when they are sleeping!!

Here is Chloe with her favorite pup- "Little baby girl."  They were inseparable!

Chloe with one of the chocolate pups.  Our last litter was all chocolate, so we thought she'd like the chocolate ones best this time.

I came out to find her in the dog house one day, holding her Little Baby Girl.  Chloe was the biggest helper with the puppies- she probably did more work than I did with them!  She probably would have slept outside with them if we would have let her.

  So far, she hasn't been too sad that they are all gone, although after the last one went to its new home, she turned to me and said, "Daisy needs to have some more pups, like in 2 weeks!"  I told her definitely not, to which she replied, "Well, I'm going to have a baby.... a baby girl, in 2 weeks!"  Better her than me, I guess.

No more pups here for awhile and I'll keep you posted on the baby girl in 2 weeks..... :)

Computer Fun

We just recently bought a new computer, which was long over due.  We bought our first computer right after we got married (almost 5 years ago) and have had the same computer ever since.  It was a great computer for the first 4 years, but recently has had a mind of its own.  It freezes up multiple times each day, will randomly shut its self off in the middle of something (usually something important that wasn't saved), and will even start printing something that I did not tell it to print.  Sitting down to use the computer was kind of like a game- when is it going to shut off this time?  Will this email I'm reading suddenly print itself?  Do I have enough time to write this blog before the computer freezes??  What new clicking noises will I hear this time? (Name that tune, with a twist).  An adrenaline rush, but usually with a frustrating ending.

Ben was in charge of picking out the new computer since he has the knowledge on what's good and what we need (a lot of computer lingo is lost on me).  He takes his job of finding new electronics seriously, and he debated for a few months on whether to go with another PC or to live on the edge and go with a Mac.  At first, I voted for a PC, not wanting to have to relearn how to use a different kind of computer (the Mac).  Ben assured me that albeit slightly different, the Mac would not be hard to learn to use and really was not that different from a PC. We finally decided and bought the iMac 2 weeks ago and love it.  It is so nice to have a computer that runs fast again and that doesn't shut off spontaneously or mid type.  It has a lot of nice features and Chloe's favorite is the musical slide shows that it does of all our pictures we have stored.  She asks to watch a slide show each night before bed.

The thing I like most about it is, as you can see in the picture, the screen is all there is to it.  The actual computer is built in to the monitor- no big box to take up more room on the desk or floor.  And the flat screen panel saves room on the desk- our old dinosaur monitor was so huge that it took up all of our desk space, depth wise.  I think we are the only people who still had the old school monitors.....

Anyway- the old computer, although outdated and dying quickly, still has some use.....

My little computer Engineer loved playing with the old computer while I was on the new one the other day.  He found it fascinating and studied the keyboard and mouse with great care.  Just 7 months old and he already knows how to use the computer properly! 

Chloe came upstairs and found us both on the computer and said excitedly, "Look mom!  Mitchell is checking his email!"  

Only a phrase like that could come out of the mouth of a 3 year old living in this day and age....

Summer Weather

Finally- some sun and heat at the same time!  This past weekend was the hottest weekend of the year here, and we have been very anxiously awaiting it!  We got into the 90's on Saturday and 80's most of the other days.  We tried to take advantage of the beautiful weather by being outdoors as much as we could.

After Ben got home from work on Thursday, we all took a bike ride together.  Chloe has been riding in this trailer since we got it, but this is Mitchell's first season using it (he rode in for the first time last week).  The look on his face shows his apprehension.... "What have I gotten myself into??"

I made Ben ride the bike that pulled the trailer.... 60+ pounds of kids to haul sounded like a bit much for me.  

On Friday, the kids and I headed to the park.  Mitchell got to try out his first baby swing.  He wasn't sure what to think at first.

I let him sit in the swing for a minute, and when I started pushing him, he would lay back because the swinging took his breath away.  When he caught his breath, he would smile like this.  He loved it.

King of the Swings!

Chloe loves being outside on any day, but really loves it when it's warm.  She spent the weekend making sure the plants were watered.  I gave her the special assignment of watering the plant on the front porch, and she took her job seriously.  She fills up her little watering can, then goes and makes sure each leaf and actual flower is wet.  (I had to explain to her that it was the soil that needed the water).

And yes, she is in sweat pants.  She spent most of the day in shorts, but after running through the sprinklers out back, she put on sweats and didn't seem to mind them with the heat.  I guess we have been wearing sweats so often this cold winter and spring that it is just habit for her.

Chloe also took it upon herself to try and water the BIG plants out front.  Notice the size of the watering can to the flowers.... it kept her happy and entertained, though.

We loved having some very warm days, but the heat came on so fast that it kind of took it out of us!  Just a few days earlier it was in the 50's, and then in just 3 days it was 90 degrees.   It probably effected Mitchell the most- he didn't know quite what to do with such warm weather that he had never felt before.  He was very lethargic and sweaty and had a hard time napping.  He was wishing, as do I, that we had air conditioning!!  Some day.....  We tried to stay cool by making homemade ice cream in our cool new blender.  It, of course, was delicious! (Is ice cream ever NOT delicious?)

  On Saturday we worked on our front yard, which is currently under construction.  We are ripping out all of the landscaping (plants, big rocks/boulders, bark, and weeds of course) and putting in sod.  We hope to be done with all of it very soon and I will post before and after pics of it when it's all finished.

Hooray for the warm weather, and here's to hoping it comes back soon!

Spring Recap

Ok, so I have been a terrible blogger lately, I'll admit it.  We have had a busy Spring, with a lot going on and since I've gotten behind on posting, I'm just going to do a recap of our Spring events thus far.

We started off Spring with a snow shower.  Here is my back yard, my beautiful flowers snow covered.

But just 3 weeks later, it was close to 80 degrees.  Chloe had a blast running through the sprinklers in our back yard.  And yes, she does have a swimsuit on- it just happens to blend into her very white (and delightsome) legs.

At the end of March, Ben and I went to our first ever Seattle Supersonics basketball game.  We have lived here for almost 5 years and have went to numerous Mariners games, but never a Sonics game.  We thought we'd better do it this year, as it will probably be the last year the Sonics will play here in Seattle.  A move to Oklahoma City is still pending.

Seattle played the Charlotte Bobcats and lost by 3, but it was still a really fun game and we had great seats.  Too bad Seattle had such a lousy year.  (I knew we should have lived in Utah.... Go Jazz!!!)  Now our goal is to go to an NFL game in our lifetime.  Come on Monday or Thursday night games!

For Conference weekend, we went to Tri-Cities to visit Ben's parents and his sister's family.  We gave Ben's parents a chocolate fountain for Christmas and we broke it in while we were there.  We spent the whole weekend dipping EVERYTHING in sight in chocolate.  It was amazing.

And a little messy.....

The kids found a stray kitty and loved feeding it.

Mitchell and cousin Sam got reacquainted and had a great time together.

Mitchell also found Uncle Marcus' Nike headband and felt like a stud in it.  Here he is with his game face on.

The second week in April, my mom and older sister came up for a visit.  We had a wonderful visit with them and were so glad they came.  I can't tell who is cuter- the kids or the pups?

Chloe has just recently taken to playing the piano and loving it.  Of course, she prefers to play when Mitchell is napping, but she's getting better about it.  I will often come downstairs to hear her talking to a pretend class, teaching them a lesson through a song she is "playing" on the piano.

She only likes to play out of my Primary Children's hymn book and even knows what page her favorite songs are on.

On 4/24 I turned 24!  Chloe was almost more excited to celebrate my birthday than I was.  I've always wanted (dreamed of) having an ice cream cake for my birthday, and this year I got it!  If anyone knows me, they know I am obsessed (no, addicted) to ice cream.  So an ice cream cake was PERFECT for me.  I think we may have to make it a yearly tradition.....:) Thanks Ben!  (And thanks to Chloe- I gave her hints to tell Ben that I wanted one and she did exactly that.)

Chloe does not share my obsession for ice cream and will rarely eat it (I often question if she is really my child due to this fact.  But I guess it's good in some ways- I never have to sneak ice cream around her because she never wants it!)  But she found the whip cream on the cake and loved that.

Mitchell desperately wanted a bite and I teased him by offering him some, but not really letting him.  Next year, buddy! 

Ben's manly strength was put to the test when he went to cut the cake... It was extremely frozen and hard and took some effort.  Thank goodness our wedding cake wasn't that hard to cut... but having an ice cream cake would have been great!  (Why didn't I think of that then??)

Chloe is almost 3 1/2 and her hair is getting so long.  There are so many things we can do with it now and she is usually pretty excited to get all done up and "pretty."

I loved this picture of the kids gazing into each other's eyes.  These 2 little people love each other so much and I love watching them together.

Chloe is the best big sister, but even when she's being a little stinker, Mitchell will always save a smile for her and hangs on her every word and movement.  I'm sure he can't wait to start being mobile so he can keep up with her.

At the end of April, Mitchell started using a sippy cup.  Here is his first attempt at using one.

Almost got it.....

Ahh... got it!

He has also just recently started sitting up for his baths rather than lying down.  This was taken on our first attempt at sitting up in the tub.  He is acting cool about it, but is secretly very pleased with himself.

"I told you I could do it Mom."

Ben bought the kids matching pj's a few weeks ago and Chloe was so excited about it.

Mitchell loves it too.

So although it has been a busy Spring, it has been very fun too.  Now we are just waiting for it to warm up!  HURRY Summer, hurry!