Charming After All

Tess was feeling especially bad about not being too congenial for pictures last night and felt she needed to redeem herself...

Tricks and Treats

Observations from a Mother

*The best time to tear the couch apart is when Mom is exercising on the elliptical.

*When the baby is sick the only person who can hold her, change her, feed her, make her smile and get up with her 50 times during the night is Mom.

*The best time to raid the cupboards is when Mom is in the shower.

*You're lucky to get at least (1) thing done on your daily "To Do List".

*Mom's agenda is never in agreement with the anklebiters.

*Freshly done, darling hair will always be tore out within the first 5 minutes when you are 19 mos. old.

*A book that has been read 10 times over the last 2 days is still fun and new the 11th time.

*You can learn all of the songs from the Disney movies and you will sing them every time they come on. Pavlov's Classic Conditioning plays a role here. Once those first few notes are heard...the words flow, just try and stop yourself.

*Hot chocolate helps wake up grumpy 6 year olds in the morning.

*The best, most comfy bed is Mom and Dad's bed.

*You can convince a 3 year old the meal they just turned up their nose at is their favorite by simply telling them it is.

*Mom will inevitably, without fail, always double schedule something every month, even as often as 1x a week.

*Mom's lap is the safest place to be.

Dangerously Bad Idea

I did something completely dangerous today...really, really dangerous...

Our ward is having a trunk-or-treat next Wednesday and each family needs to bring approximately 150 pieces of candy. I've been stashing away bags of candy here and there for the past month, relishing in the yummy look of it all. James, wanting to make sure his own needs were met, put me on the hunt for miniature boxes of Charleston Chews, of which I happened upon today. Feeling like Indiana Jones on one of his crusades I switched my money for the HUGE mix bag and with my whip in hand and my trusty Shortrounds Tess and Nate at my side, I headed home with an air of superiority. Cue Indie music...

When I got home and against my own best judgment, I gathered up the bags of candy, opened them and counted my booty to figure out if I needed to invest any more moolah in the ever suffering Mars Co. (Some of bags did not have the servings listed. What's a girl to do?)

So here I now sit with an overflowing Halloween bowl full of the best ever mix of miscellaneous treats and 5 days to go before the trunk-or-treat. Is it possible for Snickers bars and Junior Mints to actually call your name from the closet across the room? Self-control is not my middle name people...what the heck was I thinking?

Picture Me Tagged

I was tagged by a darling, wanting to get to know better Burley girl today. The assignment, regardless of whether or not you want to accept it is this:

Go to your 4th picture file, open the 4th picture and post it. You then have to tag 4 friends.






















This is my kiddos playing school bus. Wow they've grown a bunch in the last 3 years. Tess wasn't even a thought in our minds and hearts yet.

What I LOVE about this picture:
*The colors with the natural light coming through the window.
*Olivia's hair and sweet face.
*Nate's red overalls that matched his hair. Where did your red hair go Nate?
*Mark's little baby face.
*Elmo and Kit along for the ride.

Tagged
*Bridgette A.
*Andrea C.
*Angela M.
*Kirstin K.
(Remember the 'whether you choose to accept it or not part?)

On the Right Side

Grammy came to have lunch today with the kids for Grandparents day. We took a tour of Mark and Olivia's classrooms and Mom and I were dying to stick around to meet Olivia's desk mate. It kinda reminded us of the hymn "Who's On the Lord's Side?"

Ready to Answer that Call

Nate has decided he doesn't deserve the nice, warm bed just on the other side of the wall to his right. He's such a tortured individual. This is where we find him 6 out of 7 nights a week. Although this night was special because he was ready with Buddy and Huggy, his super side kicks, to answer whatever calamity came his way. Burley was safe once again.

From the Desk of Mark

Do you think he'll still feel this way when he's 30?

Chain of Command

The following conversation ensued after Nate was given what we loving refer to as a 'road whippin'. This little meeting between parent and child was invented by my father and occurs at those moments in time when children are not making good choices whilst in the car. Due to limited parental access to the children when behind the wheel the parent cannot properly discipline the naughty rebel rousers and they are therefore forced to pull over to the side of the road and dole out the proper punishment. I myself have been on the receiving end of many a road whippin'. It was usually because I was fighting with my older brother Ryan and my brain rattled father couldn't take it any longer. Ryan and I would fight about anything from the color of the sky to him putting a scab he had just picked off onto my own person. Now as a mother I understand my dad's limitations.

For those of you asking, yes we spank. While we don't do it often, some moments do call for corporal punishment. A seatbelt off on the insterstate while traveling 75 mph is just one of those moments. Never fear though dear readers, my kids all still love me (just as I still adore my father) and have all learned the hard way not to run out into the road willy nilly.

The incident in reference today occurred over the weekend and a 'road whippin' was put into action due to a sassy Nate taking his seatbelt off and refusing to put it back on. The above tangent aside, I have to appreciate Mark's understanding of the chain of command in our home. It was said with earnest sincerity.

Emily: Spank!

Nate: "I'm going to tell on you!"

Emily: "Who are you going to tell?"

Nate:.....pause....."MARK!"

Mark: "Well I can't very well whip her Nate. She would whip me back harder."

Fromage Anyone?

All's quiet here on the home front. After 2 weeks the sickness has departed our home and probably moved onto another unsuspecting family. Poor them. If the President could figure out how to unleash the bug that just left our home on the terrorists of the world, we could win hands down, no contest. The terrorists would just lay their guns down, crawl from their caves with their hands in the air and surrender with their one and only request being a week's supply of Pepto Bismol. "Bad News Bears" as an obnoxious roommate of mine from Ricks College used to say (Remind me to tell you about her sometime. Elvis singing gospel was her form of inspirational Sunday music before we left for church every Sunday. I just couldn't take it seriously. The idea of Amazing Grace and Blue Suede shoes intertwined in my mind always took over) .

Let's see, highlights, good things, noteworthy happenings...

I turned 33 yesterday. I'm sticking with my sister's philosophy whose 31st birthday is this Saturday. When asked by her young son Joseph how old she was she quickly and confidently replied "25". Yep that's me-25 forever. It seems like a good age to be, although my MIL complimented me in a nice note telling me that I just get better with age. I hope she's thinking more along the lines of wine and not cheese-

One Foot In-One Foot Out

I know I'm officially sick when the batch of cookies I have baked the previous day hold no control over me. They don't look good and they don't even smell inviting. Now that is sick I tell you.

I've been feeling quite blah for the last 3 days, thus no witty posts. Yesterday I thought I was coming back from the dead, only to find myself living on the couch again last night. It feels like I've got one foot firmly planted in the grave and another digging to get out. Olivia told me with an air of disgust, "You sure have spent a lot of time on the couch Mom." James keeps asking, "Are you....." and I keep wanting to kick his shins for not believing my resounding "No!" and for not kissing me for the last 3 days. He has been kind enough to pat me on the head though as he heads to bed every night. He's feeling pretty plucky, as Mark brought this lovely bug home last Wednesday and it has worked its way through everyone of us but him. We'll cross our fingers I'm at 100% today. So far so good.