I've been tagged

Lindsay tagged me so here goes...

A-Z's all about me

A- Age: 37
B- Bed size: king, of course
C- Chore you hate: laundry and everything about it; sorting, washing, folding, ironing, hanging, putting away, etc. I do love the smell of clean clothes though
D- Dog's name: Piggy bear is the name of our neighbor's dog who was our dog for 18 months and is now our neighbor's dog once again
E- Essential start of your day: scriptures
F- Favorite color: red
G- Gold or Silver: I like them both
H- Height: 6'
I- Instruments you play: Piano a long time ago and the guitar for one semester at BYU
J- Job title: Mom
K- Kids: 5
L- Living arrangements: with my family
M- Mom's name: Donise
N- Nicknames: Tweet, Boomy
O- Overnight stay in a hospital other than your birth: when kids were born
P- Pet Peeve: absence of table manners
Q- Quote from a movie: "I would rather you said thank you, and went on your way."
R- Right or left handed: right
S- Siblings: 1 bro, 3 sisters
T- Time you wake up: early
U- Underwear: yes
V- Vegetable you dislike: I think I like them all
W- Ways you drink your coffee: I don't, but I love really good hot chocolate
X-rays you've had: my ankle, many times
Y- Yummy food you make: cookies
Z- Zoo favorites: ?

Now pass this on to three friends you want to get to know better.
I am tagging: Mom, Diane, and Jenn
Have fun!

You guys are so tall

I took Syd to the doctor today for her well check and to get some shots before school starts.

They said she is on track to grow to be 6 ft tall.

I have to admit I am excited. I didn't always love being tall but when I finally came to terms with it, I figured out being tall is kind of fun and really convenient. Yeah Syd!

French door syndrome

Rob and I are people who really like home improvements. I love the smell and the feeling in the air of something new. I love making a new house one piece at a time.

A few years ago I kept hinting around to Rob about how nice it would be to have french doors instead of a sliding-glass door. You could open them all the way, the sliding-glass door always sticks, etc., etc.... He never really said anything about it until one fateful day...

We were going to go out to lunch when I remembered that it was my sister, Paige's birthday. I didn't want to forget, so I gave her a quick call. Well we started talking and 5 minutes turned into 10 which turned into 30+. Rob was quiet the whole time, which is surprising. He usually teases and tickles me so I can't concentrate and get off the phone. When I finally hung up Rob was sitting in the family room. Where there once was a sliding-glass door there now was a huge hole in the wall. The guy works fast! Instead of going out to lunch we went to Home Depot to buy french doors to fill the hole in our wall.

Over the years we tend to work that way. Talk about things, make plans, hold off on those plans until we have the money and then one day out of the blue, get it done. I call this erratic behavior "French door syndrome."

Just yesterday morning we were wondering what we were going to do. It is rare that we don't have something planned or something we have to do that day. Rob and I didn't want the kids to sit around watching TV and were trying to think of chores they could do. The yard was in pretty good condition and the house was mostly clean. What else is there?

I don't exactly remember how we came to the conclusion but all of a sudden we had the sledge hammer out and were taking down a couple of walls in the house.

When we asked the kids if they wanted to kick in a wall they said, "are you serious?"


a few action shots


It is just a small step toward the nice new kitchen we will put in someday. What day that will be, who knows?


P.S. I love the house all opened up.

Sydney

beautiful, responsible, brave, caring, clumsy, determined, smart, fast, athletic, tall, aware, unwavering, trustworthy

Happy 11th Birthday beautiful girl!

Lake Powell Tubing

Just a few fun pictures

Lake Powell 2009

We have been to Lake Powell for the past four summers with our great friends, the Kings. This summer we took the plunge and bought a week on the house boat for ourselves.

There is just something about eating dinner on top of the house boat looking out at a sunset at Lake Powell. Breathtaking.

We spent the first couple of days with the Kings at the end of their vacation and then on Sunday they went home and Rob's twin bro, Reed came over with his wife Emily and their 5 kids.

Random Conversations #24

Holding a tiny piece of paper

Eliza: Mom, what does this paper say? Laney gave it to me.
Me: It says I love you.
Eliza: Ohhhh, that is so nice.

A few minutes later, with paper in her hand.

Eliza: I am going to write Laney a note.
Me: That is so nice. What is it going to say?
Eliza: It will say, "I love you Laney!" But it will just have a bunch of O's and one L.

TV

Tonight the girls and I were watching TV. First we watched "Wipe Out" which is just fun. When that was over we started switching back and forth between "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" and "So You Think you can Dance." We regularly do this on Wednesday nights while Rob and Price are gone at the church.

Tonight Eliza kept getting up at different times and saying, "Oh yes I can!" with attitude and shaking her thang. We didn't really get it at first.

Then all of a sudden it clicked...

TV: So you think you can dance, dance, dance?
Eliza: Oh, yes I can!

Random Conversations #23

Me: It is time to do the summer chores*.
Marley: Moan, groan...My leg hurts really bad.
Me: Oh darn it. Does that mean you won't be able to go to the store with me?
Marley: No it just means that I won't be able to do summer chores.

*Summer chores are what we call chores in the summer. We do them differently than the rest of the year. In the summer, every morning, we all help each other until the whole house is clean. I love it. The kids don't love it quite as much as I do.

Fourth of July

Rock Band

Price's orthopedic surgeon told him to play a lot of video games to strengthen his arm. He has been doing the best he could to follow the doctor's orders. He totally rocks at the guitar and drums. I didn't think much of that until I tried it myself. It looks a lot easier than it actually is.

What'cha doin' Liza #1

Eliza is always up to something.

What ever she has been up to is usually written all over her face.

In this case it is written in lipstick.

Random Conversations #22

Me: How did these pillows get down on the ground when I just put them up here?

Eliza: Hmmm, maybe I did it.

Random Conversations #21

I just got back from four days at girl's camp

Marley: I am so glad you're home. When you are gone everything is a lot more boring.


Thanks Mar