My Last Meal

Okay Jessi, I can't sleep, and I must be hungry, so I'm going to join you in your last meal with my meal plan:

Breakfast:

Diet Coke with crushed ice from Pure

My dad's crepes plain but add blueberry syrup

Dave's hash browns

English muffin with my Grandma Stout's apricot jam

Lunch:

Footlong Subway Sandwich with Turkey, lettuce, tomato, green pepper, onion, and white American cheese on wheat

Diet Coke

Banana Milkshake from Sonic

Mid-Afternoon Snack:

Turkey Foccacia sandwich from Marie Callenders (I don't think they make it anymore)

Five Guys French Fries

Diet Coke

Dinner:

Fish Tacos from Rubios in SLC

Chips and Salsa from Chili's

Southwestern egg rolls from Chili's

Tiramasu from the Italian restaurant I just went to in Ballantyne

Creme Brulee from The Mandarin in Bountiful

Diet Coke

Midnight Snack:

Cheeseburger from Five Guys with ketchup, mayo, lettuce, tomato and onion

Huge water

Dots

What would your last meal be?

Things That Make Me Happy

The sun anywhere, anytime. Lately I find myself wandering upstairs at 1:45, 20 minutes before the kids get home) and sitting on the edge of the bed where the sun comes in at the perfect angle. I seriously always pictured really old ladies sitting in the sun like I do almost every day, but I'm not old, I just love the sun. It makes me happy and relaxed.

What's better than Dots you might ask? Dots and popcorn. Together. (Thanks Glen for sharing this gem.)

When this truck is in my garage.

T-shirts without tags. I really, really dislike tags on anything. They especially drive me crazy rubbing against my skin at the base of my neck or on the side of my ribcage. I think one of the coolest inventions ever is t-shirts with the "tag" printed on the inside.

Watching my kids run wild...I mean, not completely wild, but when they all make a plan on the bus to meet up after homework and then go to their "fort." The fort is actually the empty lot behind my house. They were playing "hobos and Indians" yesterday. They come in the house with ruined clothes (ripped and stained), shivering and muddy, but so happy!

Campfires and camping with the family...everything about it, except for the packing and unloading, of course.

Oh, and just because today is the THE DAY....the Utes make me happy, really happy.

Happy Veterans' Day!

Today I am grateful for every man and woman and family who has served this country and is serving this country. Amelia made this star with my cousin's husband's name to hang in her classroom today. We are so grateful for his sacrifice (and also my cousin's who often time is home alone with four kids far away from family).

In Georgia we lived next door to a man who was a former POW in WWII and I could sit and listen to his stories for HOURS about his experiences and sacrifices he made. To this day, Mr. George suffers the pain of extreme frost bite to his feet and had to move to Phoenix to get out of the humidity and the cold that would cause his feet such pain...fifty years later. I am just so grateful for the people who serve this wonderful country.

Trick or Treat and Girl Scout Camp

We ended up having an impromptu street get-together in our driveway before the trick or treating began. We roasted hot dogs and shared potato chips!

Thanks Aunt Chellie for Amelia's costume...you can see how much she loved it...even though she wouldn't wear the wig! The girls love it when we dress up! The girls got SO MUCH candy. And yes, I've been digging through it to find all the Almond Joys, Peanut M& M's and Butterfingers...and eating them daily.

We woke up so early the next morning and headed up to the mountains of NC to go to Girl Scout camp.

S'mores, Troop 42 cheers at roll call (I let the girls make up their own and it went something like "TROOP 42! AH CHOO!!!!", 48 Daisies and Brownies in a cabin...including one who threw up in the middle of the night....equals a lot of nighttime fun!

During the day we hiked and went to workshops. This camp was the home of the REAL Terabithia...you know, the land where fairies live...shhhhh!!!!! We were pretty sure we saw a fairy with pink wings fly over us. Amelia was sure that Tinkerbell that actually LIVES in Disney World must have just had a cabin here.

And my fabulous husband cooked EVERY meal and snack...I mean, prepared, served and cleaned up, just in time to start the next one, for 250 girls and 50 leaders, with only five other dads. Man, I love this guy.
We also went to Science and Arts and Crafts workshops...they were too little for canoeing and rock climbing, but it was still fun.







The balloon races in science were cool, but the greatest was watching the Diet Coke shoot out of the plastic bottle if you drop a Mentos in there...there was some real scientific reason, but we missed that part... the explosion was really cool though!

My brave little Daisies...only 4 out of 10 were strong enough to brave the cold (at least at night), the hiking, a night away from their bed and lots of bugs....

Halloween

Happy Halloween!

We are going to trick or treat and then get up super early and head to Girl Scout Camp on Saturday morning and stay over night. Even Dave is coming along to cook and stay in the "kitchen-help" cabin....man, I love that guy!

Amelia is Hannah Montana and Mikayla is "a cooker!" Aunt Chellie made Amelia's costume and she was so fashion! Nana made Mikayla's costume. Both girls chose what they wanted to be...so different from each other...I love it!

Order in the House

"Mom, is it tomorrow yet today?"

Mikayla is always keeping track of everything (like the days of the week). She doesn't lose stuff and is tidy! I always find things put in patterns...like in this photo it was tomatoes and soda can tabs!

"Mom I'm sure cotton is made from clouds, not from t-shirts."

And for you Aunt D (and anyone else who cares): Amelia got to wear jeans to school yesterday for her field trip, but had to wear a dress code shirt. She totally spiced it up with the scarf you made her a few years ago and the snazzy boots and belt. I told her that it said "WEAR SNEAKERS" but she didn't care and I didn't have the energy to fight it.

"But it's still night time!"

And finally, here is a shout out to all of my friends who get their kids off to day care and school before 7:00 in the morning. IT IS SO HARD! We leave the house at 6:55, and it just seems cruel to pull kids out of bed at 6, especially when it's freezing. Dave has started going to the gym in the morning instead of the night so he helps with ponytails and shoes...yes, that is service...Mik is laying down watching "Arthur" while Daddy put on her shoes.

A Tribute to D

D, You asked for it...here is just a sample of Amelia's outfit yesterday after school and this morning before school:

Amelia is sporting last year's white cheer shoes, knee high socks, plaid shorts in all shades of blue, a red and black striped tank top with a navy blue t underneath and a turquoise head band. She is SO FASHION!!!!

And in case you were worried..wearing a uniform hasn't cramped her fashion sense much...she figures out a way around it. I'm bummed you can't see the belt...it was hilarious. It's actually a scarf.

Ballet

It's a long story how this whole ballet teaching thing came about, but the HOA had contacted me about teaching lessons. My kids were NOT HAPPY at the studio I found here and so I decided to pull them out if I could get ten girls to take lessons. I ended up getting 16 girls, so I split them up into two classes and got it running. I got a call the day of our first class saying that the clubhouse was no longer available for use...long story. I couldn't cancel...moms had been buying ballet shoes and were totally planning on it, so after vacuuming the house that day, I thought, "Hey, I think there is room in here for eight girls. I had to call my mom a million times and take pictures with my phone to see if I was crazy, but I decided to run with it...

And guess what?

I love it!

It is seriously so much fun teaching these little girls. The age difference is crazy (3-7 in one class) but no one seems to mind. We do ballet for about 15 minutes and then spend 45 minutes doing the chicken dance, twirling like princesses, dancing with kleenex to snowflake songs and doing "'cross the floors to Hannah Montana."

Tonight Mikayla said to me, "Mom, your ballet is WAY BETTER than that other ballet." I'm not sure about that, but we have a lot more fun and I feel like I'm back in my element. I've missed dancing. I find myself pirouetting (or trying to) while stirring, kicking while doing dishes and getting on itunes every hour to upload some fun song that I had just thought of. It's great! It's good exercise; it's extra money, and my kids aren't sitting for two hours a week for $200 a month in a place that they don't love.

The Joys of Facebook...

My mom is the one who introduced me to Facebook, and I'm loving it. I have been able to re-connect with over 50 high school friends and two college roommates. I love to see pictures of their families and hear what has happened in their lives in the last 15 years! I have 20 cousins on one side, and it's hard to stay in touch with everyone, and it's fabulous for that reason too. I also have my Georgia friends that I like to keep up to date on. It's faster than blogging and is fun! So, for all of my friends not on Facebook, please join! You can set your profile to private and only the people that you confirm as friends can see your profile.

Happy Facebook Posting! Let me know if you join so we can connect!

Jessi's Tag

FIVE JOYS
Having a clean, tidy house.

Having a messy house for a good reason...like a bunch of kids running around while the girls are having fun.

Snuggling with my girls and playing with their hair.

Hearing Dave laugh really loudly.

Talking on the phone to D or my mom.

FIVE FEARS
The economy.

Our savings.

Our investments.

Our retirement.

The girls' college funds.

FIVE OBSESSIONS
Towels being clean and hung straight.

Checking off everything on my to-do list.

Saving money.

Picking the skin off my thumbs (gross, I know).

Staying caught up on everything.

FIVE SURPRISING FACTS
I think lifting weights is better for the body than anything cardio.

I am starting my own dance school after not dancing for ten years.

I try to wear cute shoes, but I usually just think about it and then put on my flip flops.

I would rather have a box of Dots than pretty much any other food on the planet.

I guess the one I had on before wasn't about me...anyway, I like to stay up really late and have to wake up early so I don't like the afternoons and I'm always tired from 2-5.

FIVE PEOPLE TO TAG
Jamie

Nan

Robin

Christy

Jenny

Tagged

I was tagged by Jenn D., so here I go (and Jessi, I'm doing your next!):



Six Quirky Things About Me:



1. I like piles. There can be clutter as long as the clutter is in piles and I know what each pile is.



2. I can drink Diet Coke all day long and have to try hard to only have four a day. I love to drink it in bed too.



3. I hate to be patted. I love to be rubbed and hugged, but I hate to be patted.



4. I absolutely hate when people "clink" silverware on their teeth when they eat. It will drive me so crazy that I can't even concentrate on anything else.



5. I hate silence, but I like things quiet. When I'm home during the day I almost always have Fox News on just for the noise.



6. I have to delete things immediately...if I've read an email and answered it, it is deleted. If I have listened to the message on the machine, I delete it.

I tag Robin, Nan, Jamie, Christy, Jessi, Kate, and everyone else who wants to play!

Southern Sisters

I ran in with my camera this morning to take a photo of the girls all snuggled together....so sweet how much they love each other.

On another note....Mikayla had picked out a darling book called "Pinkalicious" at the book fair yesterday. We were reading it and it had this phrase in it: "You get what you get and you don't get upset." My girls looked at me and with disgust said, "MOM, IT'S NOT LIKE THAT, IT'S 'YOU GIT WHAT YOU GIT AND YOU DON'T PITCH A FIT!'" Only in the South does "get" rhyme with "fit." And if you're not in the South, you may not even understand this, but it was hilarious! They may have been born in Utah, but they were definitely raised in Georgia!

Health and Shared Bedrooms...

Today I am grateful for good health. The girls were able to honor someone who has survived Breast Cancer and they were very excited to put Grandma's name up in the hallway of their school. They also got to wear jeans that day (I'm not sure what the connection was...something about Lee Denim Day for Cancer, but they were very happy not to wear their uniforms!)

We also took a moment to reflect on our dear little friend Kristen who still has chemo every few months but is doing GREAT!!!

Now for those bedrooms that we so painstakingly decorated and chose paint colors and bedspreads and everything...it lasted until last week. Now they sleep together every night. AND...you may notice the trundles under each of their beds...does one of them sleep on it each night next to the sister???? NO! They sleep together in the same twin bed. It warms my heart though, so I can't get mad.

Home Depot Adventure

Yesterday we took a family trip to the local Home Depot to find a wood dowel for me to make "spirit sticks" for cheer. I was down one aisle and had found them with the girls. Meanwhile, Dave had wandered over to the adjacent aisle and was looking for them there. The next thing I know, Dave had put on this HUGE tool belt and is dancing in it. I can see that there is a guy in the same aisle about 20 feet from Dave walking toward him...but Dave didn't see him. So I am just dying laughing and he thinks we are laughing at his "funniness" so he keeps dancing and swirling his hips and this guy is watching now and laughing too. By this time, I'm laughing so hard I couldn't talk so I just start pointing at the guy who is now right behind him. Dave turns his head and quietly takes off the belt and puts it back in its place where it never should have left. The guy who observed it all quickly and quietly walked away, but I saw him snickering.

A Lil' Homesick

So, it's 4:30 and I should be well on my way to my scrapbook retreat, but there is NO GAS in a twenty-five mile radius, so I'm sitting here on my computer and not heading to see my scrapbook buds for the weekend. While I'm wallowing in my pity, here are a few other things I miss:

School not starting until 8:20 (7:20 is really hard).
Having teachers that loved my kids so much that they call me here just to check on them.
Marvelous Monday, Terrific Tuesday, Wacky Wednesday, Thirsty Thursday, Fabulous Friday, etc.
Neighbors that were friends.
Bunco in the 'hood, where they spelled it "Bunco" and knew how to play
Not having a kid sent to the principal's office for wearing a home-made "spirit shirt" because we weren't allowed to buy them until Oct. 7, but my kids weren't at the school last year, so they didn't have one to wear today.
Having a golf cart and cruising around on one is a common experience.
Not having to dial a "1" before my friends' numbers.
Double Shots' wings.
My friends' kids and not knowing how they are doing in school and hearing about their day and whatever (I guess the friends go without saying).
Back patio/deck hang outs.
Poker.
Cumming Dance Academy.
Dixie, Piper, Peanut, Abby, Bama and Cokie.
The crazy neighbors' boys from across the street (not the neighbor parents themselves).
Making cookies with all the neighbor boys who pretended to be too cool to do so, but always came over on cookie day.
The lady at Nail Dynasty who did a killer wax job on my eyebrows every time.
Actually, Nail Dynasty itself where a pedicure cost $18, not $30.
Moe's.
A big backyard with a beautiful view.
My BIRDFEEDER that I want back desperately but left there on accident.
Meineke off exit 17 that was the most honest car fixer place on earth.
Kroger where the shopping wasn't as good and fresh as here but where the clerks knew my kids. by name and waited for them every Monday to come in.
Dr. Babao, the best pediatrician in the world.
The outlet mall five minutes from my house.
A brown house.
Hillary, the best babysitter in the world.


Okay, so I will sign off for now. Life is fine here in SC, but I do miss a lot of things. I'm also glad to leave behind some things, but mostly I just miss it and my friends so, so, much...especially because I'm sitting here and not on the retreat! And can you give me a shout-out if you're reading my blog?

Our Defense is Dazzlin!

Amelia came home today and started telling me something like this:

"Mom today this girl in my class Lauren was SO BRATTY. She said she would go to breakfast with me but I had to go to the store with her first. So we sat in line at the store for a super long time and she kept telling me how her ring was so cool and expensive and cost $49. Then she showed me all her money that she had to spend at the store and asked how much I had, but I didn't have any. When it was finally her turn she bought a pen that writes in pink, purple and blue and three erasers. She gave the erasers to her best friends, but she didn't give me one. It took so long that we ended up not getting to go to breakfast. When we went back to the class she showed the teacher her ring and told her this big story about how it was her moms when she was a girl but she already told me that her mom bought it for $49. She was so bratty and I didn't get anything from the store or get breakfast."

I replied, "I'm so sorry that she is such a bratty girl. That makes me feel bad too. Maybe you can find someone nice to hang out with tomorrow."

Amelia said, "Mom, don't worry. I've had LOTS OF PRACTICE dealing with bratty girls. It's okay."

Taking a Breather...

In the last seven years I finally got pregnant, gained 85 pounds, nursed, pumped, cuddled, diapered, lost 80 pounds, got pregnant again (a little fast this time), gained 73 pounds, nursed, pumped, cuddled, diapered, kept up with a toddler and a newborn while moving across the country, lived in a hotel with a newborn and a toddler and no car, lost the $#%^ pounds again, made our Georgia house a home, started a playgroup, took kids to Gymboree, the park, Kindermusik, gymnastics, the library storytime, preschool, and taught at their preschool to be with them, ballet, soccer...even coached soccer for two seasons, swim lessons, cheerleading, wiped tears, made library trips, hospital trips, made lots of friends, lost some friends, PTA, Girl Scout leader, etc. etc., only to move again.

So now, both kids are in school...all day. And guess what? I'm kicking my feet up a little bit and enjoying it...and trying really hard not to feel guilty about it. I'm busy on some days and running around and whatever, but I've had more free time than I've ever had in my entire life, and I'm loving it.

Firecracker, Firecracker, Boom Boom Boom

Go Gators! The girls had so much fun cheering at their first game. The two little girls had a wardrobe ordering malfunction so they shared the uniform until next week!

Check out the link above to Grace and Hannah's from cheerleading blog for video coverage...so cute!

Good Eats????

I may have moved from Georgia, but I still live in the South.

I am reminded of this regularly, but this morning as I was reading the school menu to the girls and read "Bologna and Grits" I was reminded of where I live and then was speechless. Don't worry, I packed their lunch.

Go Utes!!!!

A house full of six adults, two teenagers, four kids and a baby.

Friends that we miss oh, so much.

Lots of fun, in spite of late nights and a sick baby.

AND the Utes reigned in the Big House...

What a weekend!!!! When can y'all come back?