"Flashback Friday"...the college years!

(Beck, Clachelle, Rhea, Katie, and Me)

I'm totally copying this idea from my friend Amy, I just love seeing all of her younger pictures! I decided to call this post..."the college years" for obvious reasons! This is my room mate Michelle and I trying to be all "spy tech"! I just got my first job at brick oven and we went and posed on a random street bench!


This was my actual "roomy" Rebecca or "Beck" as we referred to her! She was from Syracuse, NY and was a pretty funny character. You can see my sweet poster and bed in the background! I think I was putting on make up...shocker!
The next two are my room mates from "Hurricane" Utah...pronounced Hurri-Cun, for those of you not familiar with southern utah! They're particular about that pronunciation! Anyway this was Mandy. Check out the sweet PJ's!
This was Tiffany...we referred to her as "Tiff". She was the one responsible for all the "lingo" we picked up! She drove this RX-7 that all 6 of us would cram into and cruise BYU!
People were always coming and going here at the good 'ol Glenwood aka Glenhole. These are my new room mates, with the exception of Beck and these were the flavors of the week for most of us. (Of course before Phil moved in!) Check out my sweet yellow/orange hair color!? I was always changing the color...my mother hated it!
The guy on the very right was always doing goofy things to us...so we broke into his car and left him this sweet surprise! There were so many pranks we pulled... We snuck into some boys bathroom and put the picture in the backround up. That way when they turned around...they would see us! We thought we were sooo funny!Then Phil moved in...My room mate right behind me, Katie liked Chad...who was Phil's room mate and wanted to go to this dance! So I asked him out...we doubled together...and the rest is history! Our first "couple" picture! Isn't that sweet:)

We had so much fun that we went to another dance too. We have a good story about this one! I just told Sky how we got into this dance!!! (Phil later revealed...he hated all dances...just liked the present company.)

Our engagement photo...or one of the hundreds! Ahhh, feels like forever ago!

Maylene's the Best!

A huge Thank You goes out to Maylene tonight! Wow! I know I told her on the phone, but she really did such a great job, I wanted show off some pictures of the wonderful things she brought over for dinner and dessert! (This was the "service" she auctioned, and I "won" a couple of weeks ago.) Pictures just don't do them justice! She brought over some soft rolls and a fresh green salad, to go along with the really yummy potato soup (since I'm not a meat fan...thanks!) Then some fruit that was placed beautifully on skewers! As if that could be topped, she made these wonderful lemony raspberry tarts topped with a raspberry and chocolaty peanut butter cups topped with Hershey kisses! They looked so fancy and they tasted absolutely wonderful! I have to get the recipes!!! I just wanted to thank her again and to show you what a talented friend we have among us! Thanks Maylene!

My biggest Fans!

It's not everyday...really it's not...it should be...but it's not, that my kids are wearing shirts that say they love me! So I thought I would get a picture of them laying on the bed...yeah...don't they look happy to be "Summer" fans? I promise it's more fun than they're letting on!)
I tried...it didn't get any better than this! The pacifiers were in full force this morning!

Paris' first Soccer Game!

Paris had her first game this morning at 9am! Unfortunately, her first practice was cancelled due to a serious dust storm we had here on Thursday night, so she's a little unfamiliar with the sport. (I was trying to fill her in on the way over...I'm so not good with that kind of stuff, but Phil had loads of homework to finish.) She just kept shaking her head okay to everything...which pretty much entailed,"...if you see the ball, kick it towards the net...your net...you'll find out which side when we get there..." Okay I suck as a Coach...but I was a great cheerleader...okay maybe more of a photographer...but I was rooting for her!
(The three girls in serious conversation...probably discussing their next "play")

(Paris and Maddy)

She is on the team with two of her really good friends, Maddy and Sydney, with Spencer (Maddy's dad) being the coach! Their team name is the "Soaring Eagles" or "Green Team", which is what I'll be calling them. It was fun to watch Paris politely kick the ball whenever she could get her feet in the action! I asked Paris how she liked her first game and she said, "It was fun!" So we'll just call the score even! (I actually have no clue what the score was...sorry!)

Getting some good coach's advice...

Go #3!

(Team Huddle)

(This is Karina...she made some serious goals! Sydney is on the far right.)

GOOD GAME!!!

What the..."hail" is going on here?

Who says you can't live in Arizona and walk out to "snow" on your front porch? Okay, maybe it's a little harder than snow...but it gives the same appearance!Yesterday I was in the middle of making dinner when Brooklyn says...Mom look outside! I look out the backyard to see just blowing "white" stuff. Upon closer inspection, I could see it was flipping hail! (Nothing like ice chunks being hurled into a 85 degree pool! I'll have to check later to see if it brought down the temperature!) We immediately brought in Chloe (our little dog) and then I remembered my car! I always park it in the garage, but today after picking up the kids from school it rained just a bit, and got it all spotty. So I saw some more dark clouds and thought...maybe we'll get a downpour and we can get a free car wash! Talk about a wash! I tried three times before I could get out there with out being knocked out!
All my top soil for my new plants...was washed out to the "river de Cordes"!
This is one of the hail pieces I got pelted with on my "test" run to get the car! I had a flipping welt from it! Phil says he could have gotten out there fine, (of course he wasn't there and missed out completely) but I would have liked to see his reaction when things this size were being thrown at his head from the sky!
My dad told me that I should put the hail next to money so you can tell the size. Some were bigger and broke, others were the size of bb's. I won't be able to tell until I go out in the sunlight today, to see if there's any damage to my poor car! On first inspection... in the poorly lit garage, my "Tina" (car) looks okay.

I finally got my car in the garage, as it was slowing down. That newspaper in the middle of the road was literally floating down the road a minute before!


As the rain subsided to a sprinkle, we surveyed some of our street damage.


The pretty rainbow in a gray sky!

I don't think I've ever seen the park that full after a storm! Now that it's over...we can look back at all the damage that little storm packed and smile:)

Turn back time...

Phil and I...if we were seniors in the 50's! Can I hear HHHHOOOOTTTT?????


Unfortunately, Phil and I didn't go to the same high school:( He went to Eldorado High School class of '95 in Southern California, and I went to Patterson High School class of '97 up in Northern California, but if we had known each other and graduated together...these could have been our senior portraits!!!


Thanks to Sandy I found this really fun website...maybe you've already discovered it. It's yearbook yourself (http://www.yearbookyourself.com/). It's so fun! Of course I have a million things to do, but I could not stop putting Phil's and my pictures in and changing the hair do's! I just found how to save them to my computer when their system went "down", just my luck:( But I did get some sweet photos of the 50's and 80's! So if Phil and I were together in the 80's our yearbook pictures would have looked something like this...



I'm so sad we were only like 5 and 7 years old when these beauties could have been a reality! Too bad! I definitley think there would have still been a serious love connection between us! What do you think?

Yay! Our gazebo will live on...

That last over-night storm we had a week ago or so, totally ripped our gazebo roof! I was so sad. We've only had it for about a year and a half and it's survived everything so far...up until last week:( Atleast we know that it never "set sail" , which we were worried about originally. Anyway, we bought it from Target and neither the store or their corporate head quarters stock the "roofs", but they were nice enough to give me the number to the manufacturer! After a 10 minute conversation with some sweet girl...we're getting a new free roof! Yay! So I thought I would post a picture of our sad, ripped, and "ghetto" gazebo! Poor thing, it does such a good job shading us all summer and I couldn't even find 1 good picture of it. Well atleast it will be good as new in a few weeks!

The Mommy "Tag"

What time do your kids wake up? It depends on the "kid" but usually by 6:00am, someone's awake!
On a good night, what time do your kids go to sleep? We usually start the "process" at 8:00pm.
When's the earliest someone can expect you up? Usually by 5:30 or 6am
When is too late? On the weekdays...9:00pm. Weekends it depends...with kids 9pm, without, depends on who's watching the kids!
How long have you been a mom? 8 years and 8 months
How old were you when you became a mom? 20 years & 8 months
What is your favorite kid station? Noggin--because it's on 24-7! Sometimes this comes in handy at 3am!
What is your favorite kid show? Sponge Bob or Fairly Odd Parents...don't ask why!
Least favorite kid TV show? Yo Gabba Gabba! This show totally creeps me out! It's up there with Tele-Tubbies!
Favorite chore? I guess it would be vacuuming. I love making the lines...and it makes your house look 10 times better, without changing anything else!)
Favorite meal to cook? It changes as I find new recipes...The latest "fun" one was a take on Beef Wellington. I wrap the steaks in Pastry Puff and they look so fancy when they're cooked!
What's the meal cooked most often? Probably some type of Chicken and Rice. I always make it different though, by baking, frying, or bbq'ing the chicken. I also love to experiment with different seasonings for the rice! It's a quick and easy crowd pleaser. (my crowd anyway)
What is the kids favorite meal? Home made Chicken Noodle Soup (thanks to Stacie Allred for giving me the recipe!) It's so easy to make and they love the home made noodles!
What are your favorite things that Phil does with the kids? I love it when he gets on the floor and plays "wrestle mania" or "tackle football". They all get so excited. I also love that he'll just offer to take them all to the store with him! "We like going to the store with Dad because he always lets us get stuff!" I know...I'm a "mean" mom that just wants to get in and get out!
What are 5 things that make you smile while being a mom? Besides all 5 "obvious" reasons? 1)When kids fall asleep in the cutest places to take naps. 2)When everyone's happy about dinner. 3)When Brooklyn says her room would be clean...if she didn't share with Paris and Boston says his room would be clean if he had a brother to help! 4)When we're out to eat (at a sit down restaurant) and people come over to say my "kids are very well behaved." 5)When everything is going wrong...all I can do is smile and think someday I'm going to miss this??!!!
Where do you want to take your kids someday? I would love to take a family vacation to each of our own "cities". We might have to save up for Paris!) I would also love to take them to Disney World for a week.
When was the last time you and Phil went out without the kids? last Friday. We wanted to see "Tropic Thunder" but weren't going to get there in time, so we settled on Bowling and Claim Jumper! It was so much fun! The bowling part brought me back to our "college" days when Phil and I took a bowling class together! (I still stink at bowling) The Claim Jumper part brought me back to the present...our tastes have increased with age!
One thing you said you'd never do as a mom? That probably depends on the age...I'm pretty sure I said I would never make my kids clean their own rooms or do chores. (I probably was vocal on a lot of subjects...sorry mom! But I'm sure it'll come around:)
Favorite past time with your kids? Ummm...where to start? Cooking together, reading the scriptures and hearing their "take" on them, talking about what they did at school (Boston's stories are hilarious), and talking around the dinner table.
Advice for a new mom: Take one day at a time. Don't take people's comments personally. Every baby is different and there isn't a "normal" time to do anything. Sleep will come...I promise!
What's a scary or heartbreaking moment you've had? On Madison's 2nd birthday (April 13th), it was just me and the 2 youngest, and I was still new at the whole getting the 2 "car seat" kids out of the car in 100 degree weather...fast! I decided I would leave the car running (for the A/C), take Madison out first, since she could walk and went and opened the front door. She was still standing right next to the car, while I went back to the car, turned it off, and took Seattle out. As I walked into the house, I didn't see Madison standing anywhere. I quickly did a scan inside and out and didn't see her! As panic began to set in, I ran up a few houses and then down a few houses calling her name like a crazy woman, trying to recall her favorite "hangout" spots! I kept thinking how I couldn't even watch 2 with 1 asleep strapped into a car seat, let alone all 5! I was imagining the media picking me apart on the 5 o'clock news! As the tears start to roll, because I was sure she'd been kidnapped, I heard a small laugh close by. My neighbors have a very long driveway and it's usually packed with cars...this time there were only two, so it was easier to scan. She was squatting up at the front end of a car, her two legs barely visible, by their garage door saying, "I hide you mommy!" I couldn't have been more "sobby"in my life! I hate that game now! Don't worry, I've since perfected my "exit strategy"!

I'm not going to "Tag" anyone in particular...but I would love to see how everyone else answers these! So "Tag" if you have time to do this one!

What's Cooking? Cupcakes!

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to make 24 cupcakes for our Enrichment Night this month. Of course when I think cupcakes...I think CUPCAKES! Immediately my "super-sized" version came to mind! These can take some time to dress up, but the result can be fabulous! I got this idea from my mom who made similar ones for Sky's Birthday last year. They looked so pretty and tall. I first tried out the Lemon Cream version on a baby shower for a friend earlier this year and they turned out really pretty and seemed to taste delicious too! I thought this time I would do half (12) Lemon Cream and the other half Chocolate Mousse. I thought the ribbon and the Hershey's Kiss added a nice touch. I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of the lemon ones all finished. They looked similar, but of course yellow ribbon and a lemon drop on the top! I also tweaked the whipped filling inside and my frosting a bit, it seemed to work out nicely! As you can see they are a lot of cupcake, but they look beautiful on a table! I was only able to frost the chocolate ones before I left, because frosted over-sized cupcakes are really hard to transport!!!

After Phil's office "taste-tested" the desserts from yesterday, the consensus was that their favorite were the Chocolate Chip Crispy treats! So I decided to make 2 plates to auction off. The activity was more like a white elephant service exchange than an auction, but everyone seemed to make out with some type of "service"! I can't speak for everyone, but I think I ended up with one of the good ones! "Dinner for your family and a fabulous dessert" It was definitely a unique spin on the "Service Auction" idea. (Remember our first Service Auction in the CROWSLANDING WARD, Alisa?!!)

Anyway, here are the pics of the finished products before we left. Today, I decided I'm just going to relax and enjoy my Friday. For those of you who still think "I have too much time on my hands" I would like you to know that I did all my housework last night after everyone fell asleep!SO right now I've made my favorite sandwich in the whole entire world, (fresh sub roll, mustard, boarhead swiss and cheddar cheeses, topped with doritos) turned on the Disney Channel for Madison, put Seattle to sleep, and am now going to check out a few cooking blogs. I hope you all have a great Labor Day weekend! Peace Out!)

Team Spirit Day!

All week the kids have had a different themed day. There was a "twins" day on Tuesday and Brooklyn dressed up in a light blue shirt, and capris just like a friend of hers in her class. It was cute. Today happens to be Team Spirit Thursday, so everyone gets to wear a "sports" item showing off their spirit for their favorite team. I talked them into just wearing hats, so they didn't have to worry about coordinating an entire outfit out of it! Everyone was in...except Paris. She decided that she would have to find a team to like first.

"Maybe when I'm in 1st grade I will find a team to show spirit for."

That didn't surprise me a bit, but she still wanted to be included in the cute pics outside before school to show everyone!