Stepping it up and laying it on the line....

Wow. Why do I do these things to myself, other than I need to be held accountable and what better way to be accountable than to lay it on the line for the entire world to see. Okay, maybe not the entire world, but for my 80+ some odd visitors that I usually have every day. Plus, maybe this will be incentive for some of you lurkers to come out and say hi! I'd love to get to know you! I promise, I'm not THAT scary. A little O-D-D maybe, but not scary.

So here's the deal. I need to step it up. My scale is creeping up and that doesn't make me happy. Granted I have kicked up the exercise and I usually do gain weight when I do that, so maybe that's the deal. Who knows. All I know is I'm getting farther away from what my goal weight is, and now I'm 10 pounds away rather than 7. DOH!

Now here's where I need your help. I need your support to behave. Let's just say that I like going out to eat wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much and I find myself drinking wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too many Diet Cokes.

Here are my goals for the month of October:

#1 - Exercise no less than 4 hours a week. (That should be easy, but we'll see....)
#2 - Go out to lunch with my hot hubby only ONCE during the work week. (Now this will be nothing short of a miracle to stick with).
#3 - Make dinner AT HOME every Monday - Thursday night. (Again...another miracle if that happens).
#4 - Cut back, wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy back on the ol' sodies.

Here are YOUR incentives for supporting me:

For you scrapbooker supporters out there:

Every time I mess up, I'll throw something scrappy related into a box. At the end of the month, if the random winner that I draw is a scrapper, then you'll get the entire box of loot. So for each week that I don't complete 4 hours of exercise, something goes into the box. For each time that I go out to lunch with Tracey beyond my one shot during the work week, something else goes into the box. For each night (M - Th.) that we somehow get sucked into going out to dinner rather than making dinner another something goes into the box. And last but not least, for every time I go out to get a sodie during the work week, yet another goodie goes into the stash.

For you non-scrapbooker supporters out there:

Every time I mess up on the aforementioned goals, $1 goes into the pot of a gift card to your place of choosing. Now I'll tell you right now, that I'm putting a limit of $25 on this. Here's hoping it wont even be that much, but I know my weaknesses and also know my checkbook! HA!

So I think I'll post a couple of updates every week and feel free to jump in and post your encouragement! Like I said...I like to be accountable. :0) At the end of the month I'll pick a random number from all of the support posts throughout the month and then you can choose which you'd prefer to receive....scrappy goods or a gift card!

Easy enough? Well, maybe for you.

So now is where I lay it all out on the line. Hopefully all of my neighbors are sick of reading by this point, cause for some reason I'm intimidated by sharing the low down with them...yeah...Josh...you just forget about reading any further...okay?!?!? I guess my idea behind sharing the measurements is that I'm hoping that by the end of the month I'll have some happy updates to report.

BTW - I'm locking my scale away for the month of October so this will be a surprise for you as well as it is for me!

So here it is. Now be nice. I've had 5 kids ya know. ;0)

Weight: 170 (Did I mention that I'm 5'8"? - Just easing my pain there.....)
Waist Measurement: 36 1/4"
Hip Measurement 40 1/4" (Did I mention that those hips have spread 5x for kids? Hee hee)
Thigh or is it thy....(I'm never sure) Measurement: 24" (Yeah..doubt that will budge an inch. I've always been cursed with that measurement of thigh / thys - even when I was a fitness freak in Germany).
Arm Measurement: 12" (Will this go up or down as I hopefully carve out my sexay arms?)

So there you have it. Giggle all you want cause I'M GONNA DO IT! You betcha baby...I'M GONNA DO IT.

(I hope!)

PS - I'm telling you right now that weekends are freebies for me. Not that I'll go crazy, but a girl has to have a little freedom....right?

Flat Irons and Iron Man

Yeah...I had to redeem myself by posting a better photo than my runners bouffant. My hair was rather poodle-esque in the photo after my race, but give me some credit....I didn't really do it the day before, slept in it, got up ran and sweat and so I couldn't be expected to be Miss America or anything like that.

Yesterday I decided to pull out the flat iron and straighten my hair. I think I'm ready to go and get the perm yanked out of it and go straight again. Then again...when I "do" my hair, I really like it. Tracey thought the straight hair was pretty dang sexy though. Gotta love it when your man of nearly 16 years still gives you "the look".

Speaking of irons, Aaron decided that he wants to be Iron Man for Halloween. The kid is a crack up. Since we bought the costume on Saturday the kid has worn it non stop, including to bed, with the exception of church yesterday. And let's just say that was some drama....talking him into wearing something church appropriate.






I think it's cute. I swear, having a boy is so much fun.

TWENTY EIGHT:FORTY

So this morning my cute skinny butt neighbor Kristin and I ran the "Mikes Mad Dash To Beat Cancer" 5K.

The little stink beat me. Oh to be a 20 something year old again. :0) Okay, I'll at least blame it on the fact that I'm closer to 40 than she probably is to 30. (We won't mention that I truly am a pathetically slow runner, although I did do a 9:16 mile, or something like that!)

I did come in at 28 minutes and 40 seconds (give or take a few seconds), so I made my goal of running without stopping and finishing before 30 min. And it made me feel good when some dude came up afterwards and said that I was the one that kept him going. Wow! I've never been motivation for someone elses running before. Or at least not that I've ever been made aware of! I just feel bad for the fellow that he had to stare at my jiggly cottage cheese legs the whole time.

I love running for great causes, and I love that I was able to do it with Kristin. She's such a great neighbor! Didn't love that I forgot an elastic to pull back my hair though!

Next run....1/2 marathon in Nov! I guess I'd best get training properly since I feel like the 5K today was every bit as difficult as my 1/2!

Oh and by the way...I did a random drawing to find out who gets the WRMK Nonsense goods and Becky T...it's you sistah! I *think* I have your address somewhere, but if I can't find it I'll email ya!

Be Still My......Chicken Heart

Wow. Never thought I'd see the day that my son.....MY son would actually be chowing down on nothing less than chicken hearts. Now don't go getting sicked out that I would actually be the cooker of the culinary "delight". Cause nope. No way, no how would a chicken heart, liver or any of those gizzard-y parts pass through my doorway.

Today the boys and I went to lunch at Tucano's with Jana, Michelle and their boys. There must be something groovy about chomping down on the rubbery nuggets to a little dude, cause Aaron, Drake AND Quinton all kept asking the meat servers for more chicken hearts. I'd say that Aaron probably put away 10 or 15 of the aorta filled meat mounds. Me? Not a one. I think my last chicken heart consumption occured when I was a kiddo and made the mistake of biting a heart in half and looking inside. Let's just say the valves were NOT an appetizing sight.

So now I know for the boy that says that lettuce and olives are DISGUSTING, a chicken heart would make a groovy snack. Gee wouldn't grandma Dahl be proud!

I love my dad.

Well, I love my mom like crazy too, but this post just happens to be about my dad and how he is one of those special guys in my life. I didn't always consider my dad to be one of those special guys in my life. Well, maybe when I was a little kiddo I did. I remember getting so excited when he'd come home from work, always running to give him a hug, and I also remember being his fishing pal, but somewhere along the way {insert know it all teen age years here), I didn't think he was so cool. Yeah...I was a real gem as a teen ager, I'm sure. Being the "police officers daughter" and all. I truly remember just wanting to shrivel up and die every time dad had to drop me off at school in his police car. But ya know what? Even though I was a snotty, less than desirable teen ager, he still loved me.

I consider myself extremely blessed that my dad, who has lived my entire lifetime with diabetes, and has suffered many, many complications from it ranging from a kidney transplant when I was 16 to losing his foot when I was a new mom, is still going strong. I'm even more blessed that our final kiddo is a mini Grandpa Dahl. It really brings my heart so much joy that our final baby is so distinctly "Dahl" and not only "Dahl" but "Grandpa Dahl". I don't know if it's the "technicolor blue" eyes or what, but every time I see JM, I see my dad.

I pray that JM will grow to be such a fine man as my dad. I pray that he will bring honor to the lineage that he is from. I pray that he will love our Heavenly Father as equally as my dad. I pray that he will always have the courage to stand for what is right and never be afraid to share his testimony....just like my dad.


I'm such a lucky daughter, cause even when the time comes that my dad is to return to our Heavenly Father, I'll still have him looking at me every day through the eyes of my little one.

I love you dad. (And thanks for loving me!)

Okay...I ADMIT IT!

Jana challenged me on her blog the other day to admit to something that I might not be so excited to publicly announce. I almost went with the fact that I do clean my shower in the buff, but decided that maybe that isn't so odd. I mean, it's really convenient to get down into all of the cracks and corners while your actually IN the shower. Much less mess and much less time consuming.

So here it is.....I love McDonalds. I mean I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally LOVE McDonalds. I could take or leave most of the menu but a Big Mac? Oh be still my heart. I'll take those all beef paties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles onions on an ever so perfectly toasted sesame seed bun, any time I can get one.

In fact....truth is....I have my love affair with my Big Mac probably 3 times a week! Yup...you heard it....probably THREE TIMES! It's no wonder I am not a super skinny size 6, but then again, I think it's just fine to be hanging where I'm at if I can indulge in the ever so highly caloric, greasy, fatty goodness as I please.

I guess it's a good thing I also enjoy indulging in some pretty extensive exercise or I'm sure those Macs would be getting the best of me!

So there it is. I LOVE ME A BIG MAC! (PS - You keep the fries, I'll take the Diet Coke!)

Who ever said that making dinner couldn't be a family affair?

Yesterday we decided to make homemade pasta. Well I guess it wasn't really a "gee let's make pasta, that would be soooooooooooooooo much fun to do" kind of moment, but more of a..."What gives? You mean we're out of angel hair? How is that possible? Don't we have a million boxes of the stuff? Well, I guess we'll make some noodles since we've already invited Grandma and Grandpa Dahl for dinner and there's not a lot of other choices in the house", kind of moment.


I'm glad we were out of pasta. The kids had SO much fun helping to make it. All of them took turns cranking the handle and even JM got in on the action, every time a noodle fell to the ground. He'd take it and start flipping it around like it was a fish! Tracey even filmed, so I'm sure the pasta video will be surfacing one of these days soon.


We had so much fun making it, that I think we're going to make homemade chicken noodle soup for dinner and make another round of noodles when the kids get home from school. Oh how I love me some good, thick, homemade noodles in homemade chicken soup, and I'm sure the kids wont complain at being put to work either! Happy times, I tell ya....happy times.



And here is the awesome vid my man shot!

SCORE!

Oh how I love scoring a great deal! It thrills me to no end.

Friday and Saturday were the Scrapbook USA Expo here in Salt Lake. I taught a card class on both Friday and Saturday afternoon which was really a lot of fun. I truly do enjoy teaching others and had some great students this go around.

Yesterday, Michelle, Jana and myself scrapped until I had to go and teach at 4:30. Well, they continued scrapping until the end, but I had to quit. I wasn't very productive in output of projects since I spent far too much time parousing the vendors and checking, re-checking and re-checking again, throughout the day to see if the items I wanted to purchase were marked down any further.

All in all, I feel like I scored some pretty sweet deals!

Deal #1 - 5 sets of Scrapbworks alphabet rubons for $5.00. Not $5.00 each....$5.00 for all of them. I know there is 6 sets shown in the photo. One set goes with the kit I bought. Not bad considering there is over 650 letters in each set.

Deal #2 - A Scrapworks "Magpie Collection" kit - 10 sheets of paper, one set of vinyl stickers, chipboard embellishments, letter stickers, and one set of runbon letters for $4 or $5. I can't remember which. Shown in that photo as well is a bunch o'buttons that I got for $2.00

Deal #3 - Basic Grey Recess collection, including all of the 12x12 sheets, alphabet stickers and die cuts, rubons, buttons, ribbon and a 6x6 pad ALL for $10.00! Yup. A $40 something dollar value for $10! Also shown in "Deal #2 photo, an "All Boy" chipboard album and chipboard embellishment kit from Fancy Pants for $2.00.

Deal #4 - Two sets of Fancy Pants felt shapes for $3.00 each! A set of Scrapworks vinyl brackets for $1.00. Fancy Pants rub on set for $1.00

Deal #5 - A collection of cute Scrapworks papers - 12 sheets for $1.00

So all o' that loot for $33 dollars! Did I mention how I love a great deal?

Here is my one and only layout that I completed yesterday. Need I mention how slow of a scrapper I am?

Enjoy your day!

Unbelieveably Perfect!

Yesterday was one of those days that was a picture perfect page from a stereo-typical "Stay At Home Mom" lifestyle.

You know like in the magazines or movies....those times that seem to be too good to be real, those times that only happen in la-la land?

Well yesterday was one of those "watch soaps and eat bon-bons" kinda days. (Don't be led astray people...I neither watch soaps and haven't since the summer before 7th grade and I've never had a bon bon - I don't think.)

Yesterday my SIL and I took the boys to the local "aquarium". I guess you can call it an aquarium since there ARE fish and octopus and jellies and sharks, etc. But it's really only a temporary exhibit while they raise funding to build the real thing. We used to be members at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, so everytime I go to our aquarium I kind of giggle....however, the boys....THEY LOVED IT! Now JM was a tad of a challenge cause he's like a dog that just wanders around thinking to himself, "where can I go...where can I go....where can I go". But Aaron and Drakie (sorry...I have to call him Drakie, can't help it), had a fabulous time! What a riot it was to watch them at the shark tank. The true highlight of the day.

After the aquarium we went to lunch at The Olive Garden, which was actually MY choice. (GASP! For those of you that know how much I *heart* The Olive Garden). I was just hankering for some breadsticks and salad, but ended up getting a pizza as well. The boys were so good (oddly enough) and I didn't even have to pay since it was my RAK from Michlle for winning Bingo at KT Crafts this month. Thanks Michelle!

Now the miraculous part....both boys fell asleep on the way home, so I curled up into bed with my book - The Second Summer of The Sisterhood. I read a few pages and fell asleep myself until 4:00!!! It was soooo nice.

It was "leftovers" night for dinner (much to everyones dismay), but that meant I didn't even have to cook!

Then Tracey, yes, TRACEY mowed the lawn and then took us for ice cream! (Maybe had something to do with the fact that the next 2 doors of neighbors MEN were out mowing. ;0) - I love ya baby!)

All in all it was a "soaps and bon bons" kinda day! The only thing that would have made it any better is if Jana and her boys could have been with us as well. (Dang that afternoon kindergarten! ;0) )

Well, wish me luck today! I'm teaching my card class at the Scrapbook USA Expo. I'm sure there will be extra kits available so I'll be sure to let you know if any of you are interested!

Have a great day!

Help me answer this riddle...

I'm puzzled. No, make that I am entirely addlepated (yeah...had to look that up) as to WHY anyone on this big blue planet would spend their time watching the movie The Riddle.

I admit it...I'm not much into the movie loop since we rarely go to the theater any more....so I put my trust in synopsis writers for jacket covers. PEOPLE! I do realize that your job is to make the product - in this case - this movie as enticing as possible, but for the love of it all.......don't lead me astray!

Who knows. Maybe I'm just not refined in my place in life. I mean I DO like Barbeque Cups and enjoy watching Sponge Bob on occasion with my Sponge Bob obsessed children. Maybe that's my problem is I don't belong to The Finer Things Club like my cute neighbor Kristen who likes artichokes. Oh wait. I do like artichokes. :0) At least I did manage to pick a good share of my nasty heel skin off of my left foot while I was watching. Hmmmmm....maybe that just goes to show right there that I'm not refined. Cause if I was refined, I'd be having a pedi at some day spa and having someone remove the caloused skin for me. Maybe that's my problem. Maybe if I'm willing to dig chunks of skin outta my dry heels then I'm not evolved enough to appreciate this movie.

So please, please Red Box gods. Grant me a free coupon code so that I can feel redeemed for wasting $1.06 on The Riddle.

(I guess if anything, they got the title of the movie right, since it is a complete riddle to me as to why anyone would even conceive such a thing!)

I need your help! PLEASE VOTE! **BLOG CANDY INVOLVED**

So yeah....my good friend Robyn Weatherspoon is a finalist in the Scrapbooks Etc., Ultimate Summer Challenge. She's one of 10 finalists going for the grand prize of $2,500! I'm sure I don't have to tell you that would be one stinkin' AWESOME prize, especially for an incredible 4th grade teacher who is an amazing, amazing person.

Now I'm not asking you to vote for her per se. As it stands the woman currently in 1st has a major "network" that she is utilizing and has a fairly decent lead. Given the circumstances of how she is apparently gaining votes seems kinda lame, but hey, it's a public vote and that's how these things work. And who's to say what I'd do if I were in her shoes. Cause yeah, I'd love $2,500!!! Anyhow, that's why I am not asking you to vote for Robyn (even though her album is positively stunning), but I'm asking you to go and take a peek and to vote for your favorite final project. And if your favorite is like mine, then you'll be voting for Robyn. It's just such a happy album!

And to make things a little more interesting, anyone that casts their vote be it for ROBYN (woot! woot!) or whomever your favorite SBE finalist is, and leaves a comment on this post, I'll enter into a drawing for a package of the new WRMK Nonsense Flocked Lace as well as a card of the new WRMK Nonsense Trims. Most stores don't even have this stuff yet, so if you want your chance at it then leave me a comment telling me that you voted! Registration is super easy and remember you can vote once a day, so be sure to comment in this thread every time you vote to increase your chances of winning the Nonsense loot! (And please do vote! :0) )

Feel free to spread the word!

A Day of Firsts....

Today was a fun, but exhausting day. Tracey had a video shoot out at the Salt Flats this morning of a sexy, souped up black Mustang, GT. We were going to go out to his parents while he went to shoot, but ended up tagging along.

I had a great time taking photos of mainly the boys while Tracey risked his life for the "sweet shots" of the Mustang while hanging out of the window of another car going ummmm....120 mph. Sadly enough he was probably more afraid of bringing harm to his camera than the possibility of leaving me alone....husbandless....with 5 children to care for on my own and not a stinkin' clue how to build a complete RNG35 from start to finish. (All though I am getting better! - oh and uh, just kidding about your camera my love!) At least he had the decency to be seated during the portion of the ride at 140 mph. Yeah. I'd be dumping a load in my shorts for sure. Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too scary for me.

So anyway, today was the 1st day in my 36 years of being a Utahn that I actually set foot on the Bonneville Raceway Saltflats. It was fun. The kids had a great time exploring and Aaron had a great time smooshing the bubbles of salt. Now JM, I think that salt and he didn't quite get along as well as it did with the others. We're talking about the boy that giggles when he sees food. Well, I'm thinking he thought that he was surrounded by a sea of something tasty. Well, he kept trying to see if it was tasty. Oh man. That was funny. I shouldn't laugh at my kids' expense, but you'd think he would learn after the first mouthfull.

It was also a first as far as Tracey and I can recall for Aaron as well as JM. A first for leaving the state of Utah. We were so close to the border of Nevada that we decided to pop over. But seriously.....how pathetic is that. The family that had their 3rd child to 14 different countries by the time she was TWO! And yeah...it took nearly 4 years to drag Aaron out of the state of Utah. Yup. Pathetic. What is even more pathetic is that Maddison was entirely put out that we didn't stop to let her pee in NV. She refused to go on the Utah side so dutifully held it until we made it to grandmas. Silly girl.

PS If you want to see the first of the Mustang videos, it is below these pictures.

Awesome Blog Booty!

My cute friend Misty is giving away an awesome Blog Booty in honor of her 20,000th visitor to her blog. Here's a photo of the loot! Be sure to stop by her blog and follow the rules for a chance to win this awesome collection!

Seriously Misty...how are you doing it! You know you are supposed to be in high hibernation mode. That baby is going to come any second!

Also, if you didn't see my post below, be sure to check out my little blog booty diddy I've got going on. Just show me how the photo in the Inspiration post below inspires you to create! (The photo of the washcloths). And feel free to spread the word! Hopefully by the time I am ready to send out the WRMK Halloween Collection, the embellies will be in the house! Still waiting on them to arrive to the warehouse!

I'm a WINNER!

Sheesh...I NEVER win things. EVER! However, my registering for the Wasatch Womens 10K, is being more than refunded to me via my winning a random drawing from Avanti skin care center. It was kind of funny cause even as I was filling out the form I thought to myself...."I'm gonna win this one!" Maybe I should try going to Vegas with the same mental mojo!

Now I was hoping for the 1st place winnings of $1,000 of laser hair removal so that I could get my lower legs done, but hey, there is some other lucky gal out there that got that. Little ol' moi got the 2nd place drawing. I get to have a session of microdermabrasion or a chemical peel, depending on what the asthetician thinks is best for my skin. I'm so excited! So say goodbye to those ever so tiny wrinkles around my eyes and say hello to some young sexay skin!

I go on Monday, so I'll let you know how it goes!

Oh Kristen, I'm so sorry!

Oh dear. I've feared it for some time now. I know, Kristen knows what I'm talking about. Yes...the dreaded day finally arrived when I got walked in on. Yup. I was taking a shower.

So Aaron comes be-bopping into the bathroom...me not thinking much of it because the front door is locked, garage is down...the usual precautions I take before showering...and Aaron asks..."Mom, can Milo play?" At this point I'm bending down shaving my leg, not looking up and I say "well later for sure. I'm going to make dad take us to lunch so you boys can play when we get back."

Then I peek up.

Then I see...Aaron is NOT alone.

Oh man. I had to giggle.

At least this time it was not Milo's fault for breezing in the house. I guess Aaron figured out how to open the child locks. Hmmmm...new news to me.

Hopefully Milo is not too terribly scarred. I mean, I think I would be if I saw the chubby neighbor mom in the shower. At least I WAS bent over, and never did stand up, and the room was steamy along with the door, so even if any peek was copped, it was nothing more than clevage. Oh but wait. I have no girls, so even then there was nothing to be seen. Just the top of my lovely polka dot shower cap.

Ahhhh...

Next lesson. DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR WHEN I AM SHOWERING!

Oh my.

Kids.

I feel so loved...AGAIN!

I'm just sitting here with a smile on my face. My dear sweet favorite Dutch friend Peggy Severins sent me a blog award. Let me tell you a bit about this girl. SHE IS AMAZING! My life was blessed to cross paths with her through our three years of design team work for CreativeXpress. Peggy is one of the friendliest people on the planet, and so kind and thoughtful. When I had my horrible miscarriage, she was so kind and sent such a wonderful care package. She was so thoughtful and even sent the kiddos a fun little Dutch treat of these bread sprinkles for toast. Oddly enough my kids still talk about them on occasion. Peggy has gone through challenges in life, as we all do, and this year has been a toughie for her, but you know what....she's still smiling, and that's what I love about her is that she just takes what life hands her, makes the best and still keeps putting one foot in front of the other. Peggy....I love ya girl!

I'm not going to pass on the award, only because I issued out awards not too long ago, but I'm definitely going to find a nice little home for this darling award.

I've also been tagged by two of my buddies....Meredith Watson and Shellie Hubbardt. So here we go!

I'm supposed to list 6 quirky things about myself.
Link back to the person who tagged you.
List the rules on your blog.
Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of your own.
Tag 6 "unsuspecting" bloggers to complete.

#1 - I can't drink out of glass cups. Or prefer not to anyway. It really freaks me out. It also freaks me out if there is any sort of "scuz" on a glass. Even if it has just come out of the dishwasher...you know how sometimes glass glasses especially come out with little specks of who knows what? Yeah. Can't drink out of them. However, my favorite plastic cups...with my lip gloss stains all around the rim? Doesn't bother me at all. Maybe because I know it's MY scuz.

#2 - I brush my teeth. A lot. In fact, I've brushed 2x today already and it's not even 9:00. I can't stand the feeling of fuzzy teeth.

#3 - I have this thing about a crumb free / streak free counter top. Makes me crazy that no one else in the house seems to mind. I mean, how can they not mind? Something is wrong with THEM I tell ya! I go through a container of the clorox wipes about every week from wiping the counters. Speaking of...sounds like a trip to Costco is in store, cause I'm out of wipes.

#4 - Hmmmm....when riding as a passenger in the front seat of any car, I need the left arm rest put down. When I am in the drivers seat, doesn't bother me at all. Tracey's little car doesn't have a left arm rest. It causes me anxiety that there is nothing to put down to rest my arm on. Feels wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy wrong! Feels much like I would imagine wearing a thong would feel like. UN-COMFY!

#5 - When I eat a bowl of any marshmallow enhanced cereal, I have to eat the "cat food" first. Then I'm left with a lovely bowl of overly processed sugar in grey milk that crunches and squeaks when I chew! Then of course I have to go and brush my teeth to get rid of the nasty film that's left over. But ya know...I love it!

#6 - Dang, this is hard. Ummmmm...let's see. I have to get ready in the same order every day. Shower = Wash hair, put in conditioner, put on shower cap. Shave pits (not for much longer...in fact I'm skipping days now), wash body, shave legs. Remove shower cap, wash out conditioner, wash face. Get fully dressed. Put on foundation, blush, eyeshadow then mascara. Do hair.

So there ya have it. I'm an OCD freak I guess.

So now I'm tagging ALL OF YOU in my links list. Yup. THat's right. ALL OF YOU! I'd link you individually here, but um...I think JM is on the verge of getting beat up by brother who is not so patiently waiting for the recycling truck to come.

Have a LOVELY weekend everyone!

Billy is MEAN!

Oh wow...so this morning I decided to pull out the ol' Billy Blanks DVD's. Holy dog doo, that is a HARRRRRRRRRRRRRRD workout. And I only did the "Basic Training". I think I'm going to try to add one kick boxing routine a week to my morning torture so that I can get my arms back into shape. Gotta love me some tight arms!

So what is your favorite "at home" workout? I know Misty said she loves the Slim in 6, which I am contemplating ordering. I just know that winter is going to be long, an I'm not going to want to go to the gym every morning. Maybe one of these days we'll move to a more mild climate where we don't have to face winter. I really, really, really hate winter.

I've Been Busy! **New WRMK Embossible Designs**

I've been a busy girl this week. Last week Laurel at WRMK asked me if I would work some magic with the new Embossible Design stickers. Granted they are not my ultimate favorite product of WRMK, cause well that new Nonsense line kicks some serious tooshka, but all in all I did have fun working with them. It's kind of fun to see how your brain shifts gears in creating when using something that isn't a part of your normal creative process.

I had a sad moment this morning however. Okay, I'm still bummed about it. My very most favorite project that I made was this "Animal Match Up" game book. The idea is to match the picture of the animal with the name of the animal on the opposite side. It's a flip book jobbie.

Anyhow, I was so excited about it and ran outside to show my hubby last night. Of course he was entirely un-impressed as his brain was in RNG mode. I had to grab the baby or something, so I set it on the ledge by the garage. Yeah. Forgot about it too. And of course it had to rain for the first time in forever last night. 8 hours of hard work....warped as can be.

Oh well. Live and learn. Right?

So here I leave you with the new Embossible Designs cardstock stickers from We R Memory Keepers. Enjoy!

A Little Friendly Farmland Fun

So today the boys and I made way over to Thanksgiving Point so that we could go to Farmland. Aaron has been so excited to go. We haven't been there in about forever, so I really couldn't remember much of what was there. I just knew I needed farm photos for a WRMK project that I'm working on, and hey....if I can use my trip to Farmland as a tax deduction, why not?!?!

Really Farmland is pretty much nothing more than a big whooptie doo. HOWEVER, the boys had a ball. All Aaron wanted to do was pick up corn that had spilled out of the 25 cent corn machines and feed it to the pigs. JM was pretty much in love with ALL of the animals and kept uttering "ooooooh....ooooooh....oooooooohhhhhh". Well, I guess the "oooooooooooooohhhh" that he uttered when a baby cow was trying to eat him was more of a "Oh, please don't let it end this way" than a "this place freakin' ROCKS, oooooohhhhhhh". Yeah. His only word. But at least most of the time it sounded a little more of an excited variation of "oooooooooohhh".

We had fun. I got my photos. The layout is even done. And if I dare say so myself....it's kinda cute!

Colorful Inspiration - with some "blog candy" as a reward!

I know I'm always on the lookout for something that inspires me. The other day I was parousing my local WalMart (yes....I'll admit it....I love WalMart), and I came across this happy little stack of washcloths. I made a mental note of them and vowed to use the color combo as inspiration for creating something.

Well, you know me...mom of 5....functioning on about 2.4 brain cells. I couldn't remember the exact color combo, so I had to go and buy them. Let me just say that they are AWESOME washcloths to boot!

So here's the deal. I want you to show lil' ol' me how this photo inspires you. I'm giving you until the end of the month....Sept. 30th to be exact, cause if you are anything like me then you'll need the time. Plus I'm hoping this will be a chance for some of you regulars (and newbies) here to jump in and say hi!

As a reward, I'll have one of my kiddos pick a random winner for some "blog candy". Is that what you girls are calling it these days? I'm such a blogger dork....challenged, to say the least. So what I'm getting at is if you are the random winner, you will be receiving some of the new WRMK Halloween collection as your prize. Just in time for those Halloween photos to be scrapped!

Get ready, get set.....get creative!

I'm impressed....

Okay. I can see why people love the whole laser hair removal thing. Yup. I can. The memories of the pain have eased and I'm here to tell you after only one treatment, I hardly have to shave my underarms at all! They said it would be a week to two weeks before I'd really notice any differences. Dang! It makes me happy! For those of you that know me and my supersonic hair growth...this is really saying something!

Can't wait for my next treatment!

Sorry...boring no photo post, but I didn't figure you'd like a picture of my pits anyway. :0)

I set a goal...I did it...I ran!

Wow! What another feeling of accomplishment I have today. This morning I ran the Wasatch Womens 10K at the University of Utah. When I went to registration to pick up my number they didn't have recorded if I was doing the 5K or the 10K. Oh man that was tempting to say that I was only going to do the 5K, but ya know what? I know I would have been cheating myself.

Running makes me hurt, and BOY oh boy did todays course make me hurt. My only saving grace was the fact that when I run in the mornings I can't go anywhere in our neighborhood without facing a hill. Anyhow, for those of you that know where the U of U sits....let's just say running nearly a solid mile straight up hill was not fun. BUT I DID IT! And the way they had the course set up I got to do it twice. Hee hee! That was such a treat the second 5K around, knowing what was coming up.

Even though I truly do not love running, I love the results of my running (size 10 pants growing baggier every day, which I still say for a mom of 5 isn't too bad. :0) )and even more than that I love the feeling that I get by setting a goal and accomplishing it. THAT is what truly keeps me going. The satisfaction of knowing that I've put my mind to something and I've done it and done it well. It's also been such a great bonding experience for Tracey and I....beginning a good share of our days together. I just feel badly that I feel like I hold him back, but he's such a sport he doesn't mind.

Anyhow, I set the goal of completing in 60 min. and you should have seen me running as fast as I could so that the clock didn't change to 61 min. I think I came in somewhere around 60 min. and 45 seconds, although I'm trying to find official times posted somewhere so that I can see what my actual time was, since it would be slightly less. (They had the nifty shoe chips tracking times).

After running we spent a few hours up in the canyon with the Lee side of the family celebrating Zane and G-ma's birthday. It was fun to see how excited Aaron was about "camping". Even though he wasn't so sure about it on the ride up the canyon. He was pretty certain that we were either going to fall off the side of the road OR that the "string trees" were going to fall down on him. Poor dude. He did get to experince going pee for the first time like a man. He did it pretty well too! I'm thinking we may bypass having him sit on the potty and go straight for the standing pee method. Even if I have to take him out to the ditch to go pee since he thinks peeing in the "dirt toilet" is fun. Hey, anything to renew the joy of potty training, right?

Well, here are a few of my favorite photos from the day. Sorry Jana, I'm going to have to do a re-take of the photo of you and Maddi. That sun was way too harsh.

Have a great day everyone! Now to get registered for my next 5K on October 11th! So if anyone wants to join me! Should be an easy walk/run down American Fork canyon.

Boys are weird

So the other day we were in the car and Aaron says "Mom. I want to tell you a joke." I laughed so hard. Of course it's not quite as funny now, but I still thought I'd share it with you.

Oh and with any stroke of luck there will also be a video of Maddi's layouts at the fair.

Well, I was just informed that Maddi deleted the video that she made of her layouts, so here are two photos of them. I think she's got some promising talent if I do say so myself!

I'm SO proud of her!

I'm so proud of my Maddi girl. She got 2 blue ribbons for the 2 layouts that she entered. HOORAY!!! That made it all worth it! Yup! For sure.

I did okay. Not nearly as well as in years past, but no worries. I did walk away with a few blue ribbons myself and quite a few 3rd place. I'm beginning to feel like I'm moving into the "has been" arena of my career. Not that I've ever been a "been", but ya know what I mean. Well it looks like my computer and my little camera are not cooperating, so I guess there will be no photo of my Maddi's layouts. The girls make wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too many videos and my computer is about dead, so the combination of the two of them isn't good. Sorry. I know I always hate a post with no photos.

Well today I really should clean, but who knows if it will happen. I'm not feeling the best. Perfect timing to get a cold with my 10K tomorrow morning. I haven't been training nearly as much as I should have been, but it's just been hard getting into a routine since school began. But anyone can walk 6 miles if they have to....right?

I think I'll also take the boys over to Farm Land since I've got a WRMK rush job to do and I need some good farm photos.

Anyhow, take care! I'll check in tomorrow after my race. My goal is to complete within 60 min. We'll see.

Yeeeeeeeeeeeee Haw! Put on your belt buckles...it's Utah State Fair time!

Oh man. I'm as giddy as a 4 year old on Christmas Eve. Every year I get so excited for the opening day of the Utah State Fair. This year I've entered 19 layouts. I'm really not expecting too much as a lot of what I've entered this year are landscape layouts and I'm not sure how that will fly with the judges. I've also heard that there are a TON of Category C entrants...which are the professionals. But never mind that...I'm more excited than anything to see how my Maddi girl does with her 2 layouts. They are both wonderful layouts, and I wish I had photos of them to share. I'll be sure to take some tonight.

Anyhow here's the cute new chica running around our place. Tess is so excited about her new reading glasses. I really hope that they help her out so that reading become more enjoyable to her and less of a chore. She's really doing much better with her reading, but still not her favorite thing in the world.

Well...giddyup pardners. I'll be seeing you at the fair!

Ummmmmmmmmm.....YOWIE!

You know, I really can't complain that we have been parents for the better part of 14 years, and today was our first real incident.

Sarah decided that it might be fun to see what getting hit in the head with a metal baseball bat would be like. She did it with a bang! Or a bust, or a break.....11 stitches worthy of a break.

My poor girl. Really and truly it was not her fault. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time when a nearby baseball player threw his bat.

I'm just ever so grateful it was the back of her ear and not her nose or her eye or her TEETH! Heaven only knows I don't think I could handle even one more dental bill!

One more round

So I was asked to teach one more time at the Scrapbook USA Expo. I truly do love teaching. I'm just a little bummed that the class spots didn't open up until just barely, as registration began on August 1st. Oh well....if nothing else it's a couple of days away from the kiddos, which at this point sounds LOVELY! They are just wearing me out this morning. Aaron and his hurt toe, making him a disabled 3 year old that needs to be carried everywhere, and JM that has his diaper in a knot about something or other....taking a massive fit over everything. Ooooo...the rage in his eyes.

Anyhow, this isn't the greatest of photo, and some of these cards aren't my favorite, but I was working under a time crunch, and creating in the mind set of a big class along with a full range of scrapping levels, definitely makes me simplify.

So, if you're in town on the 19th or 20th, I'd love to have you in my class! It runs from 4:30 to 6:00 each day. The title is "A Card For All Seasons". The cost is $24 and you'll be given TONS of product....as always!

Or if you just want a kit you can let me know and I can send you one for $15 plus the shipping. If you were ever a fan of the Paper Fever (Rob & Bob) then you just might want one of these kits! Such happy papers they are!

Ugh, I stole something!

You know, I really don't fancy myself as a theif. Well, unless you count the time that I stole Leila Palmers hair clip in 2nd grade. What was I supposed to do? Well, obviously not STEAL it.....especially from right under her nose, but oh how I longed for "girly" things. Being the youngest with 3 older brothers, sure didn't allow for much frill in my life. Now before you get your panties in a knot, I learned my lesson. I felt so guilty about stealing her lovely hair clip with feathers and ribbons and bows that I never did wear it. And yeah, cause I sat in front of her, she might kinda notice anyway. I often think of her and trying to track her down to tell her I'm sorry. I really still do feel horrible to this day.

Anyhow, I guess technically I stole something the other day. I couldn't help myself. I mean, I'll be returning it to it's rightful owner in a few short days, so maybe I just borrowed it without permission.

I "borrowed" this photo. I couldn't help myself. As soon as I saw it on Misty's blog, I knew I had to scrap it. So Misty, I hope you likey! It was the absolute perfect photo to use my brand new Nonsense papers on. THANK YOU!

Enjoy!

PS - if you want to see a darling video of my lil' JM just waking up from a nap then check out my hubbys vlog. He used one of his new screens in his adapter. Love that boca baby. (Yeah...whatever the heck that means. Actually I DO know what it means, just not sure if I got the right word. Maybe I'm just mixing up my spanish or italian and whatever that spotty blur word is. ;0) ) Love you my hubby. (See, I do pay attention).

Finally - the reward!

Aaron has been such a star about going pee in the potty. He's really taken to it like I figured he would when the time finally came. He filled up his reward chart in like a day and a half so he finally got his Thomas Train toy that has been sitting in the coat closet collecting dust for quite some time now.




However, our hopes and dreams were smashed when not only once, but twice yesterday we were welcomed with a dukie on the carpet. First time, not so bad. Maddison came running upstairs with a horrified look on her face telling us there was a poo that looked like a snail on the ground. And well the second time? Egads....what a nightmare. Let's just say JM had fun playing and painting. Now why on earth wouldn't that child take one whiff and think "hmmmmmmm....there's something wrong with this". Then again, we're talking about J.M. So I guess the next step is filling out a poo chart.