Wii!

I'm a little busy these days playing our new Christmas present, the Wii. I may post pictures of Christmas someday, but I just can't seem to break away from the Wii long enough to download my pictures. For those of you that have one already, when does the initial excitement wear off and you don't feel the need to play it 24 hours a day?

Move over Andrei Kirilenko

Porter just finished up his first Junior Jazz season and it was one interesting season, to say the least. I would classify Porter as a defensive specialist, much the same as Andrei Kirilenko. Not too much of an offensive threat, but you'd better watch out on defense. He was tenacious in his defending of the other team. When they are this young, they put wristbands on each player that match up with someone on the other team. This let's them know who to defend. I always felt sorry for whoever was matched up with Porter, because he wouldn't let them out of his sight. He took defense to a whole new level.
Although Porter didn't make a basket the entire season (actually, didn't even take a shot), he had a ball! He loved running the court and cheering for his teammates when they made a basket. It was really quite fun (and painful at times) to watch him play.
All in all, I would call the season a success and if awards were given, Porter would definitely win "Top Defender."

Kind of Fun

If you want to play, just copy and paste this list on your blog, and highlight which ones you've done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Held a praying mantis
9. Climbed a mountain
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill.
24. Been to Vienna
25. Was on Television
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Learned a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Winter Fun?

I'll be the first to admit that I REALLY hate winter, but there is something very fun about bundling your kids up for their first snow adventure of the year. It's all so exciting to them. They can find a million things to do outside and the cold doesn't seem to bother them at all. After the big storm on Saturday, they were begging to go outside, so I put my winter hatred aside and went out with them. They climbed the tree, went down the slide, and pulled each other on the sled. The slide is so much funner when it's covered in ice than in the summer when it's hot and your sweaty legs stick to it. You just fly off the end in the winter and land in a big pile of snow. It was a lot of fun and I'm determined to have fun this winter, whether I like it or not!

"Elf" Yourself

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

A Man of Many Hats

It seems that every time I turn around these days, Tate has on a different hat. He loves having a hat on his head, any hat. He frequently raids Porter's stash of hats and finds new ones. He looks so cute in his hats, that I decided to take pictures of all the different ones I see him in. These are the ones he has worn lately that I got a picture of. (Please excuse the messy face on some of the shots).

Happy Birthday Tate!

I can't believe my baby is 2 today! His two little years have gone by so fast to me. He is such a funny boy and makes me laugh everyday. With the other two kids being in school all day, I have been able to spend so much time with Tate. I can say that I haven't missed a thing in his first two years. I have loved the time I have been able to spend with my little man. Today was spent quietly at home hanging out and having fun together. I made Tate's favorite lasagna for dinner and baked him an extra large birthday cookie. Grandma and Grandpa Willoughby stopped by for a visit and Grandma and Grandpa Archibald spoke with Tate on the phone for a few minutes. We played with new birthday toys and had an all-around great day together. We love you Tate and can't imagine our lives without you! Blowing out his candles on his birthday "gokie".
Playing with a new dump truck sent with love from G & G Archibald in Oakland.
Playing with his new train set from G & G Willoughby.
Showing off his extra-large and extra-cute birthday smile.

What is a "real" man?

My friend Celeste just blogged about how her husband just finished reading Twilight and how he was getting in trouble with the "husbands." Well, Allen just finished reading the book as well. He wanted to see the movie with me and thought he should read the book first. I personally think that is very sweet and a nice thing for a husband to do. But, you would not believe the amount of harassment Allen has taken over reading this book. He has been told he's losing his manhood and numerous other "manhood" comments. He even had one co-worker say to him "when you're done reading, drop by my desk and pick up a man-card." (whatever the heck that means). This has compelled me to write a little bit in defense of my wonderful husband. I think it takes a "real" man to admit he's read the book and that he liked it. I think the men that give him harassment are only insecure about their "manhood". Allen does many things that make him a "real" man in my opinion. He encourages me to go play softball or volleyball while he stays home with the kids. He's going to take Hannah to "The Nutcracker" ballet over Thanksgiving when all the other men are home watching football. He doesn't care that I bought Tate a baby doll for his birthday. He was up in the middle of the night with all three children, feeding, changing or anything else I needed. That's what I call a "real" man. He's the world's best dad and husband and I'm a lucky woman to have him. Thank you Allen, for reading Twilight and not being ashamed to admit it and for all those other things that make you a "real" man!

The Pinkest Pinewood Derby Car Ever!

We had an awesome night last night participating in the Pinewood Derby with Hannah. Our ward invited the Activity Days girls to build a car and it was so much fun! Allen helped Hannah build her car and let her pick the paint color. She chose pink, of course. Then we decorated it with cute, girly stickers. The girls had a pretty good showing last night. Four of the top six were girls and a girl had the fastest overall time. Hannah took 6th out of 18, and swept an entire heat. We talked to her about winning and losing, but I can't tell you how good it felt when she beat some of the boys. I couldn't stop smiling and it looked like Allen might just burst when he saw how excited she was to win. At the end, she won an award for the "Girliest" car. It was a fitting award for a very girly girl. Great job Hannah!

Tate's New Bed!

Yesterday was Tate's big debut in his new "big boy" bed. Although he was getting too big for his crib, and trying to climb out, we were nervous about switching him to a bed this early. So with a little bit of reluctance, we took the crib down (for the last time) and set up his new bed. We thought he would definitely want to climb out and play for his nap, but he didn't and surprisingly slept very well. We put him to bed last night and awaited the middle of the night sound of Elmo Hokey Pokey from his room, but it never happened. He slept all night! Now I just need to potty train him, but we'll save that for another year.

I Love the 80's!

As some of you may already know, my 33rd birthday is coming up this Saturday. Allen is "surprising" me with a mixed tape of my favorite songs from the 80's. For those of you that grew up in the 80's like myself, I'm sure you'll agree that the 80's produced some of the best music of all time. In order to get my absolute favorite songs on the mixed tape, Allen brought home a list of Billboards top 700 songs of the 80's for me to choose from. I only get 16 songs on my mixed tape, so it's been a hard decision, with a long process of narrowing down the list. Well, my list is finally complete, and I thought it would be fun to share with you. I really enjoyed finding out your favorite movie quotes, so please share with me your favorite 80's songs as well. My list is as follows in no particular order:

America - Neil Diamond
The Search is Over - Survivor
Don't Dream It's Over - Crowded House
Sunglasses at Night - Corey Hart
Heaven - Bryan Adams
Angel - Aerosmith
867-5309 - Tommy Tutone
Missing You - John Waite
Never Surrender - Corey Hart (I loved Corey Hart when I was 13)
Jessie's Girl - Rick Springfield
When Doves Cry - Prince
Straight From the Heart - Bryan Adams
Don't Know What You Got (Til It's Gone) - Cinderella
The Flame - Cheap Trick
When I See You Smile - Bad English
Love is a Battlefield - Pat Benatar

Honorable Mentions: I loved these songs as well, but in good conscience couldn't put them on my mixed tape.

Blame it on the Rain - Milli Vanilli
Lost in Your Eyes - Debbie Gibson
We Are the World - USA for Africa

I wish my mixed tape would hold all 700 songs, but it won't. They just don't make songs like this anymore.

I Love a Bargain

As some of you may already know, I love a bargain and I love to clip coupons. Call me crazy, but I love the rush that I get when I look at a grocery receipt and see how much money I have saved. It's exhilirating! This week's shopping trip to Albertson's was especially thrilling to me (I know my life is pathetic). It was so thrilling to me that I wanted to post a picture of my deals. All of these groceries cost me $18.00 total!. The list includes:

10 cans Progresso soup

3 large tubs Country Crock butter

1 12 roll of Charmin

2 Wishbone Ranch dressing

5 Suave lotion

8 Lipton pasta sides

5 cartons Progresso chicken broth

1 Green Giant freezer vegetables w/sauce

1 Betty Crocker cake mix

1 Betty Crocker cookie mis

Thank you Albertson's and Pinching Your Pennies! My food storage has never looked so good and all for so cheap!

Sweet Movie Quotes

As Allen and I watched TV last night, we somehow got started on movie quotes. We began to talk about some of our favorite lines from some classic movies (at least in our opinion). We had so much fun in doing so, that we compiled a list of our top movie quotes. Can you name any of the movies these quotes are from? We would love to hear your favorite quotes as well!

"Oiling and lotioning, lotioning and oiling, I can't take it anymore."

"Hey Pinnochio, where YOU going?"

"I come from a long line of overreactors."

"The machine is still on Moira."

"Bye Buddy. Hope you find your dad."

"Snakes, I hate snakes."

"Never mess with a Sicilian when death is on the line."

"This a time for serious people, Bob, and your fifteen minutes are up. My name is Andrew Shepherd, and I AM the President. ...."

"My guess is this is the singing bush."

"Besides, we both know I'm training to become a cagefighter."

"Give me what I want and I'll go away."

"How much you want to bet I can throw a pigskin over them mountains."

Weekend in San Diego!

We just got home from a fabulous weekend in San Diego. We decided at the last minute that we needed a quick little get-away. Because we fly free with JetBlue, it makes for really cheap vacations. We spent Sunday and Monday in Sea World and flew home on Tuesday. The weather was warm and perfect as it always is in San Diego. There were no crowds either day and we were able to see all the shows and do everything, at least twice.

Hannah and Porter had a ball in this bounce house. At times, they were the only ones in it, and could pretty much do whatever they wanted.

We had bunk beds in our hotel room, and they thought it was loads of fun to play on them. Up and down the ladder they went. They may have had more fun on the bunk beds then they did in Sea World.

Hannah and Porter hanging out by the pool. They love swimming and made friends with the other kids in the pool and had a great game of shark/dolphin/killer whale going. I think the other kids had been to Sea World also. Apparently marine life was on their mind.

Porter and I on the new Elmo's Flying Fish ride at Sea World. They have recently opened this fun new area in Sea World called Sesame Street's Bay of Play. It has tons of cute play areas and some fun little rides for the kids.

Porter looking for shells on Mission Beach.

The whole family got to meet Elmo and Big Bird. Tate was so enthralled with Elmo that he wouldn't look at the camera. Every picture we have is of Tate either honking Elmo's nose or poking at his eyes. I'm sure Elmo was ready to get rid of us and on to the next family.

What a Night!

Yesterday was Allen's birthday and we celebrated a nice evening together with the kids. He chose pizza and chicken wings from Domino's for dinner and ice cream for dessert. He wrestled with the kids and we watched our favorite videos on YouTube. He said it was a great birthday, until all h-e double hockey sticks broke loose. The kids were in bed, so Allen and I decided to read a little in the D&C, when out of nowhere, Allen jumps out of his chair, practically throwing his scriptures in the air. He said he saw something run across the floor to the side of him, like a big spider. We checked under the other chairs and saw nothing. I thought he was up in the night. Then we decided to look under the couch. Allen lifted the couch and I did the looking. Well, I could see something gray under the couch, but I thought it could be a toy. So I lifted the couch the next time and had Allen look. As I was lifting, he screamed MOUSE, and I dropped the couch and jumped up on the table. We did indeed have a little mouse hiding under our couch. Allen had seen something scurry across the floor and my worst nightmare was now coming true. The little guy didn't seem to want to move from under the couch, so we got into full battle mode. This included calling our hunter neighbor Dax in for reinforcements, grabbing buckets, and a long stick. Dax came over with his air soft pistol and the next thirty minutes consisted of the mouse running from one spot to another in our family room with us screaming and chasing him. His final chase came when he scurried across the kitchen floor with Allen trying to squash him with a stick and Dax shooting him with an air soft gun. He made it safely into the small crevice leading into our dishwasher. That's when we knew the chase had ended. He made it to safety, nestled somewhere inside my dishwasher or the inside of my cupboards. Dax set some peanut butter traps for us and left us alone with the mouse. We blocked off the kitchen with the coffee table and tried to resume our night. We attempted to take our mind off the mouse by watching The Office, but it didn't seem to be all that funny last night. We then tried to go to bed, but neither of us slept very well. We kept dreaming about mice and I was dreading fixing breakfast in that death trap of a kitchen. In the morning, Allen went to check our traps and he then told me the best news of my life. We had caught the mouse in one of Dax's peanut butter traps. He took the bait and was now paying the price for terrorizing us all night. I think I owe Dax a batch of peanut butter cookies. I'm glad our adventure is over for now and I'm sure Allen had a birthday he'll never forget!

The Witch, a Ghost, and Indy!

My parents held their annual Halloween party last weekend. They sure know how to throw a party. This party had everything! There was pumpkin decorating, a pinata, crafts, a treasure hunt, and a spook alley. Hannah decided to be a witch this year. She wants to be a scary witch, but even when she tries to look scary, she just gets cuter. Sorry Hannah, you'll just have to be a cute witch!

Tate hates costumes, so a pillowcase ghost works out well for him. We attempted to spray his hair and paint his face, but he wouldn't sit still long enough to get the complete job done.

Porter makes an awesome Indiana Jones! He's missing his whip and bag in this picture, which top off the costume nicely. We had fun at the DI this year picking out treasures to put in his bag. Indy Jones is always looking for treasures, so that's what Porter wanted. He found a skull, a goblet, a crystal statue, and a tiki at the DI. Thank you DI!

Here are all the grandkids in the leaves. My littlest nephew, Cooper, is laying in the front and is camoflauged in the leaves. He's dressed as Tigger in an orange costume, which blends in perfectly with the leaves.

My brother and his wife made the perfect Napoleon and Deb. It was almost scary how well they pulled that off. Not only were they dressed like them, but they even acted like them. It was hilarious! This picture doesn't show the moon boots though, which was the best part.

Sleeping During Movies

Allen and I thought it would be fun to watch a movie last night after the kids went to bed. We made a trip to the Redbox and neither of us had seen the new Indiana Jones movie so we decided to give it a try. Now I have a real problem staying awake during movies at home. I can't seem to help it, but when the lights go off and the movie starts, I'm gone. I thought I would be able to stay during last night's show, considering the great action found in Indiana Jones. But last night was much the same as all the other nights, I just couldn't make it. I was asleep after the first twenty minutes of the show (sorry Ryan). I don't sleep continually through the whole movie. I wake up every so often to glance a bit of the show, but when I realize how lost I am, I figure I might as well just go back to sleep. As I spoke with Allen after the movie, I apologized for sleeping through yet another movie, and also asked him what happened to Indy at the end. Being a huge Indiana Jones fan, he was very disappointed with the ending. When he told me that the ending involved aliens and a spaceship, I felt no regret in sleeping through the ending. What kind of Indiana Jones movie ends with aliens and a spaceship? Maybe Steven Spielberg and George Lucas became confused with their other movies, but that just doesn't seem right. Anyways, sorry Allen, for sleeping through another movie. I'll try much harder next time!

Corn Maze

We took our annual trip to the corn maze Saturday afternoon. The weather was absolutely beautiful and we couldn't pass up an afternoon in the sunshine. My sister and her family went with us and the kids had an absolute ball (until an injury occured, explanation coming). The corn maze itself was fun, but the funnest part was the big, giant slide. I don't know how many dozens of times the kids went down the slide. Tate was also loving the slide until he decided to turn around at the bottom and try and climb back up. At that moment, the next group of kids was coming down the slide and before we could get to him, they completely plowed him over. He emerged from the pile with a horrible bloody nose. We thought his nose was broken. It was bleeding so bad and had a nice lump across it. To make a long story short, our trip to the corn maze was cut a little short. We took Tate home and he looked terrible. His face was a mess and he was miserable. I expected him to wake up Sunday morning with two black eyes and some bruises, but amazingly enough, he looked great and hasn't had even other troubles. Looking back, it seems like Tate gets hurt quite a bit, but he's definitely not afraid to jump in and try all the things the big kids are doing.

Home-grown Pumpkins!

This year we planted our own pumpkin plant in the garden. It was a long shot that we would actually be able to make something grow in our garden, but surprisingly enough, the pumpkins grew a ton. In fact, towards the end of the summer, they began to infiltrate the rest of the garden, cutting off all life to my poor onions. Our pumpkin crop this year yielded us eight pumpkins. They are almost all perfectly shaped and cute as can be! The kids had a great time watching them grow, and then the reward came yesterday, as we cut them off the vine, and took them for a nice wheelbarrow ride to the front porch for decorating. There is nothing like the reward from knowing you grew something yourself in your very own garden!

Frightmares Fun!

My parents took all the grandkids to Frightmares at Lagoon today. They've done it for the past few years and it's becoming a fun UEA tradition. Lagoon is so much fun at this time of the year. It's decorated cute for Halloween, the crowds are smaller, and the weather is so perfect! Hannah is becoming quite the roller coaster enthusiast and will try tons of rides now. Porter is not quite tall enough for the big rides, but getting too big for the little rides. He loves Dracula's Castle and even won his first stuffed animal ever on "Break the Plate". He stepped right up and broke 2 out of 3 plates. It was so exciting to watch his baseball windup and his perfect aim at the plates. Watch out major leagues! Tate was content on the merry-go-round, making horse noises the entire time. What a great day!

My Little Scholars

I felt it necessary to post some of my children's schoolwork. I am so proud of their hard work so far in school this year. Hannah may have finally realized that it's okay to do good in school, as well as have fun. She's previously been more concerned with the social aspect of school, rather than academics. But so far this year, she has aced all of her spelling tests and was even awarded
"Scholar of the Month" for her class. Now that's an award I didn't think I would ever see for her. Not that she wasn't capable, but she just hasn't been all that concerned with her schoolwork thus far in her career. Porter is also doing wonderful and has also been getting 100%'s on his spelling tests. He's always been a bit of a braniac, so this is really no surprise to Allen and I. Either way though, I am very proud of both of them. I know it's been hard for them to switch schools and start over, but they have both been tremendous and are doing great in their new school.

The Throw-up Bucket

The throw-up bucket at our house has been well-used in the past couple of weeks. That dreaded feeling all started early last week when I heard that awful sound in the middle of the night when you just know your child has covered all the blankets, sheets, and sometimes walls with the throw-up. In Tate's case, he just happened to throw-up on the one night that he actually ate a good dinner, and Allen just also happened to be out of town. No sooner had I cleaned up the first round of pizza chunks, when the second round came. Because I only had one set of hands, I threw all of the soiled laundry into the tub to be rinsed out at a later time. I changed Tate and held him until he fell asleep. Then I rinsed out the blankets and pajamas, left them in the tub and crashed for the last few hours of sleep for the night. He felt much better in the morning, but I still had to face the mess of laundry in the tub. I also knew that my chances were great that the other kids would get the bug as well. We were fine for a few days, and then I heard the sound again, this time it was Porter. Thankfully, he is my best thrower-upper. He always makes it in the bucket and then just moves on with life. So he was easy. Then it was passed to Hannah, who is not easy. She moans and whimpers and then screams when it's coming. She should be the easiest by now, but is the worst, by far. To make a long story short, the throws-ups seem to have thankfully left our house and I can finally catch up on my laundry. I'm still wondering though, why does all of this happen in the middle of the night? No one ever throws up in the middle of the day. Why is that?

Great Book!

I finished reading this book last night and thought I would let all of you know how great it is. For those of you that have read it, you'll know what I'm talking about, but for those who haven't it really puts it all in perspective. If you're anything like me, I go through phases where I feel like staying home and being a mother is not all it's cracked up to be. And then there are other times when I love it and wouldn't change it for the world. This book helped me to realize that this is where I need to be and I am lucky to have the opportunity to stay at home and raise my children. There will always be good days and bad days, but being a mother is the most important thing in the world!

Business Travelers

This morning I dropped Allen off at the airport for his business trip to New York City this week. Although he has taken many business trips before and I'm sure there are many more to come, I still hate it when he has to leave. As I pulled out of the airport, I felt that pit in the stomach that I know won't go away until he returns home. I have tried to put my finger on this feeling many times and I still can't quite figure it out. It may come from knowing that he will see places of the world that I will never see, go to nice restaurants that I could never dream of going to, or simply the fact that I hate being apart. So as I was driving home from the airport, I decided that there must be positive things on my end that I'm just not seeing yet. So I thought about it the whole way home and came up with a few reasons why business traveling may not be so bad after all.

1. I can sleep on Allen's ultra-comfortable pillow.
2. I can have McDonald's for every meal if I so choose.
3. I can catch up on all my old episodes of Jon & Kate Plus 8 that I can't watch when Allen is
home because he can't stand the sound of Kate's voice.
4. He always brings home great souveniers for the kids.'
5. I can hog the entire bed if I want.

If anyone has discovered any more great reasons why it's great for your husband to be out of town, please share. Maybe someday, the pit in my stomach will go away, but until then, I will try and make the best of it.

Did we really go to the fair again?

It's that time of the year again. It's the one Saturday of the year that we pull out the halter tops and the oversized belt buckles and make our way to the Utah State Fair. I'm not sure what it is that compels us to keep attending the fair year after year. Maybe it's the redneck in us or that little bit of white trash that we just can't seem to let go of, but whatever it is, I continue to find myself at the fair year in and year out. Let's face it, where else can you blow $75 in two hours on mechanical bull riding, pony rides, the big yellow slide, very unsafe carnival rides (don't even get me started on carnival workers, "carnies" as we call them), the chance to see a 5000 pound steer, and the world's junkiest souveniers. Every year as I bake in the hot sun as we walk through the pig arena, trying not to lose my lunch, I wonder why I keep putting myself through this torture. Yet somehow, as we are driving home and discussing the days events, we realize we've had a great time together and we just can't wait for next year's fair. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is something great about the state fair.