Happy Birthday to....ME

Is it weird to say Happy Birthday to yourself? Well, I just did so who cares. And a good day it's been. Or rather, I should say, a good few days it's been since I started celebrating the day after Christmas. My mom and stepdad were in town until last Saturday morning, so Paul and I had to take advantage and go out on a nice long date. We went to see a movie (The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons. Quite a good movie might I add). Afterwards, we went out for BBQ at a local restaurant. Then Saturday I spent a little time shopping. Sunday I took a nap (definitely a birthday treat when you have three little kids). And Monday (today) I woke up to Breakfast in Bed and a whole hour to myself to get ready. Ah....it was nice. Then later this morning, I met up with my good friend, Charlotte and her family, at the Mall. They moved to Indiana about a year and a half ago, and happened to be in town and driving through our area this morning. It was GREAT to see her and get to hang out for a few hours. Tonight(after the kids are in bed that is), I think I'll have a nice little fire and cozy up with a movie and some hot chocolate with my honey. All in all, quite a nice Birthday!

The kids giving hugs before heading out



Me and Charlotte at Souplantation (yum yum)

Check this article out. It's a quick read.

As a "Mormon", I found this list of items to be quite comical. I'm glad we're making the cut these days. When I was a kid, not many people had even heard of my religion. (Click on the link below.)

13 food gifts you should not give out at Christmas Time

Sometimes....

Sometimes they can be so sweet to each other.

This morning the girls were watching a cartoon while Ashlyn was waiting for it to be time to leave for school. Ashlyn was on the ground and Leah was on the couch. All of a sudden, Leah gets down and walks over and sits down by Ashlyn and puts her arm around her. It was SO sweet and I was SO glad that I had the camera within arms reach because moments like this don't always last.

Put this on your Christmas to do List

Last night we headed over to The Americana on Brand  with our friends the Taits to see the "snow". It was so much fun. If you haven't done it, it's definitely worth the trip down to Glendale. They have a little playground, a big grassy area (perfect for running around in), and a trolley that circles the outside mall. Not to mention all the yummy treat places to grab a snack or hot chocolate at. Yum!

Leah's trying to catch a snowflake. I don't think she new it was really tiny soap bubbles. 

Me and blue eyes. They really pop in pictures. They're so pretty. I hope  he keeps them.

The Fam. Thanks for taking the pic Beth.

The girls with their little buddy, Tyler.

Ashlyn at the fountain. I don't know why she insists on never looking at the camera. 

Naps

Leah has pretty much given up her naptime over the past month or so. It's been bittersweet for me. Sweet in that I'm not as tied down to being home at certain times of the day (except I still do have to consider Brandon's nap schedule. Luckily he's a little more flexible still.) Bitter in that I never ever get a break from the girl. Is it bad to admit that I REALLY need a break from her? She's two after all and has the tendency to drive me bonkers. I'm pretty good at being patient with her (In other words, I don't spank her NEARLY as often as she deserves it. Ok, I don't really spank her at all. Well, I guess I can't say I NEVER have. Anyway....) I really do try hard to be patient with her and help her communicate in a more, um... civilized manner. 

The point of this....Every so often, she gets to the point where all she is, is one meltdown after another. And that's when I can get her to take a nap. *sigh* My home really is so much more peaceful when she is asleep. I think I went whine free for a whole hour today. It was nice. 

I can't believe it!!!

Here I was, minding my own business, driving home from the dentist AGAIN (whole 'nother story) this morning, when I pull into my complex and then turn right onto our little street when I see some "liquid" streaming down onto the ground by a car. I look up to realize the source. A man, probably in his late 40's is standing just outside his front car door "relieving" himself. AH....please tell me I did NOT just see what I think I saw? I looked up at him and he just shrugs his shoulder as if to say...."sorry, what could I do?" I'll tell you what you could do mister. You could have driven yourself over to the McDonald's or the Stater Brothers, or ANY other store that is RIGHT around the corner and done your business in a restroom, where civilized people do it. AGHHH....I can't believe it. I just can't believe it. I'm scarred for life! 

What do you think?

Might as well put Brandon's new skill to good use right? My floors ARE constantly dirty.

And He's off

I guess he's been doing this for a little while now. But just the past couple of days, he's gotten a lot faster. I'm afraid life just got harder. Oh, why do they grow up so fast? I wanted him to stay little for a bit longer. At least until after Christmas. Oh well. I'll just put up a baracade around my Christmas tree and hopefully he won't figure out how to break through before Christmas comes.

Spoiler Alert

If you haven't read the last book in Stephenie Meyer's series, Breaking Dawn, and you don't want to know what happens, than don't read this post.




Having said that, this blog post should more appropriately be named "Me and Stephenie Meyer"

Now, I'm not going to pretend for one half of one second that I could write a book series, or even a book, or even one paragraph of one book. I couldn't. But I am going to say that me and Stephenie Meyer must think alike. Why you ask?Because I love happy endings. And never, not ever, have I read a book or seen a movie that has had more of a Happily Ever After happy ending than this book. Really....I mean not only does Bella end up with her perfect husband, Edward, who hangs on her every word and it willing to "offer" her to her best friend Jacob (in order to keep her from dying), she also gets to keep "her Jacob" in her life, gets a beautifully perfect half human, half vampire baby girl (who is NOT going to die anytime soon), gets to keep her dad in her life (thanks to her extraordinary ability to resist human blood), has a wonderful new family, a perfect cottage home, never has to sleep (which those of us who have read the book, know what that means... HA HA), and is transformed into a supermodel type person with all the grace and confidence she lacked as a human. Then to top it all of, she gets to be the hero and saves the day when the "bad vampires" come to attack. WOW! I don't even think I could have thought of a better happily ever after ending. Stephenie Meyer left no loose ends to tie up, and no questions unanswered (someone should see about her getting together with the writer and directors of LOST). She even cleared up the "slight mystery" with Nahuel there at the end of the book. I'm SO impressed (I know sarcasm doesn't translate well into written word, so please insert some).

I did really like the whole series though. I can't pick one book out above the rest. I liked them all for different reasons. They were a fun read to be taken lightly and with a sense of humor. Definitely!

And I know the naming of the baby is, well, put quite simply....not so great. But consider this (and sorry to my Mom and Dad and maybe Grandma Sally, and also my poor sister. Please don't take offense.) My mom and dad named my older sister CharAnn. It's a combination of Charlie (my dads name) and Ann (my maternal Grandma's middle name). Except it isn't pronounced CHarAnn, like in CHarlie. It's pronounced SHarAnn. But never, not ever, has my poor sister ever gone by that name. Instead, my parents called her by her middle name, which is Desiree, and she has had to correct teacher after teacher, year after year about what her name really is and how you pronounce it. Ha...poor sissy! I love you. Despite it all, I think she really loves her name. So no doubt that Renesmee will also. No worries!

As a final note, I don't think it would make a good movie. Here is the reason why (click here). Hopefully they'll figure out how to wrap it up nicely in three movies, not four.

Gotta Hand it to Kohl's

I got Brandon 4 pairs of pants and 8 shirts at Kohl's Department store yesterday for just under $40.00. He's set for the winter now. Yahoo! (And I have to admit I had fun buying boy clothes...even though the selection is WAY smaller than for girls. I never paid attention to that fact before I had a boy.)

A Conversation with Leah

Upon coming out of the "naughty spot" (time out).

M: Leah, why were you in the naughty spot?

L: Um...because I throwed a fit and kicked the washer door thing (dishwasher).

M: Do you think you could listen to me next time and not kick the dishwasher when I ask you not to?

L: Um...no.

M: Why not?

L: Um...cuz I don't want to.

(Well, there you have it! My life with Leah. Good thing she's cute.)

A Fun night at the Finnigan's

We all met about four years ago in the "Encino Ward". There is only one family left in that ward now, so it's on the rare occasion that we all get to be together at the same time again. Tonight was one of those nights. Our families have definitely grown since then too. I can't believe we all fit into one house. Thanks Jackie for hosting. You're awesome.

Love you guys! Thanks for the fun night.

COME ON!!!

93 degrees outside one week before Thanksgiving. How am I suppose to enjoy my Christmas music if it's so stinkin' hot outside? I want some FALL weather.

A Quote from Neil A. Maxwell

(This was in an email sent to Paul. He checked it out and found the actual talk to verify that it was really said by Elder Maxwell. If you live in CA, or have been following what has been going on around here, you will find this to be quite TRUE.)

“Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had ‘never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life.

‘This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ. . . . Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted. . . . This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions.

Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened….Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, ’summer is nigh.’ Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat.”

- Elder Neal A. Maxwell
“Meeting the Challenges of Today” (given at Brigham Young University on October 10, 1978)

I'm a big boy now!

Not only can I sit up (ok, I still fall over sometimes), but I cut my first tooth last night. Hooray!

A trip to the Zoo

On Veteran's Day (Tuesday), I decided I'd take the kids and head down to the zoo for the afternoon. Well, it turns out half of LA had the same idea because the place was PACKED!!! That's okay though. We still had fun. I even ran into two friends from "the old ward". The weather was great and the animals were out (for the most part) and moving around. All in all, it was quite a pleasant trip. Much better than the last time I went, which was 2 months before having Brandon (I know....it's been a long time). I swear dealing with three little kids at the zoo is easier than dealing with two and being pregnant. At least I had the energy to chase after them and walk up and down the hills.

This picture was actually from the end of our day at the zoo. Can you believe I asked the guy at the counter to make these "small" for my kids? I know he heard me. He repeated it back to me. And might I add, the chocolate soft serve at the zoo is quite yummy!

I swear he's saying, "Take the dang picture already mom. I'm tired of looking at ya."

Just a couple of fun shots with the animals. I love the giraffes. And the tigers were actually up and walking around today. It was fun to watch them.

Awards Assembly

Ashlyn got her first award in school last week. We are SO proud of her. Only 3 kids in the class were recognized and Ashlyn was one of them. I know I'm bragging, but I'm her mom. I'm allowed to. Truth is, they probably have these types of award assemblies all the time. But we're not going to think about that. ANYWAY!!! Here are some pictures. I tried to upload the little video clip of it, but I can't ever get it to work. Don't know why????

Oh, she got the "Citizenship" Award. So cute!

My New Love

I've never had Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt, but from what I hear, this is even better. I've had it three times in the past two weeks. We have one right by our Super Walmart. So come on up. It will be worth your drive. And the best part is, it's all self serve. So you can pick and customize it yourself. They even have a pomegrante flavor that is super yummy!

Halloween

Halloween night was lots of fun. The girls had a blast going from creepy house to creepy house collecting their goods. And Brandon, of course, was a trooper going along for the ride. Uncle Ty drove three hours (in traffic) to come up for the evening. The girls were so happy to have him there. And Grammy and Pop Pop came along also. Now we have enough candy to last us until NEXT Halloween!

My Friends

These are my friends. My "Encino" friends that is. And I love them. They're the kind of friends you don't get to see everyday, but when you're together, it's like you do. Last night we met at Aroma Cafe in Studio City to have some yummy treats. It was so nice to hang out and chat, and have some laughs. I'm so grateful for your friendships girls! You're the best.

What a brave boy!

Just got a shot this morning and already smiling. I just love this kid! 

Here are his stats. Pretty much following the last time. 

Six month check-up:

Height- 25 1/2 inches (25%)

Weight-17 pounds 2 ounces (50%)

Head- 43 1/2 cm (50%)

Looks like we have a short stalky guy on our hands. Maybe he's gonna look more like my Dad than I think. That's the only short stalky guy I can think of in our family. Hm...only time will tell.

On another note- I made cookies with the girls today because my aunt and cousin RAVED about this recipe for "monster cookies". They sounded good, so I thought, what the heck. Well, I only looked at the ingredients, not the quantities, and before I knew it I had a batch of cookies with NINE cups of oatmeal. I've now baked 5 dozen cookies and still have at least 3-4 dozen to go. SO, if you are in my ward and coming to Recipe night tonight, you will be getting cookies, not soup. And if you aren't in my ward, PLEASE come over and eat some cookies. Yikes!

Uncle Steve is home

Home from Iraq that is. Where he has been for the past 6 months. Every once in a while Ashlyn would ask me if Uncle Steve was "STILL fighting the war", to which I had to keep saying, "yes, he is". Well, I finally don't have to say that anymore.

Last weekend him and his wife, Soul, came up from San Diego to spend the day with us. And, of course, they brought gifts for the kids (rather LARGE gifts that is). Brandon was all into his basketball hoop and the girls were ecstatic to play in their new princess castle and dress up clothes.

(sorry about the Christmas picture. I didn't get one of him while he was here.)




Thanks so much for coming up. It was great to see you guys. So glad you're back from "fighting the war".

Sorry Pop Pop (I know you won't approve)

Does this crown make me look girly???

Utah Trip

Sit back and get comfy. This is a long one.

Sorry these pictures are not in order. It will take too long to rearrange them so I'll just tell you a little about each one.


This is me and my "favorite" Aunt Rhonda. She stayed over at my mom's house for one night on her way up to BYU-I to see her son, Chad. I'm holding Cali (my cousins new baby) in this picture. Isn't she adorable?

This was taken at a place called Gardner's Village. It was a totally fun quaint shopping area decked out in Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations. I loved it and could have spent all day there, but it was DANG cold that day and the kids could only last so long going from fragile shop to fragile shop.
This is me and the girls going down a mondo super slide at a "Bounce house" in Sandy.

My sister flew in from Florida to surprise my mom. My mom was so shocked to see her that it looked like she thought she was losing her mind. It was great. I wish I could have gotten a good shot of it, but it all happened so fast.

My brother flew in to surprise my mom too. But she caught on and we had to tell her what was going on. Here he is chilling with the kids watching a cartoon.

Here's the top of the slide at the "Bounce house". It was great fun!

Here's my mom going down with the girls.

Here we are on a carriage ride at the petting zoo at Thanksgiving Point. On the trip we pretended we were princesses on our way to the castle to meet the prince, who of course, was Daddy.

Here's me and the kids with my mom at Cascade Springs up Alpine Loop. It was a beautiful day and the colors in the mountains were breathtaking.

At the petting zoo. Ashlyn and Leah both got to ride a pony twice. What lucky girls. They had SO much fun!


Here's my sister holding new baby Cali.


Aunt Brenda and Uncle Brent (aka- the new Grandparents) at Cascade Springs.


Cousin Brittany (aka- the new Aunt) and Ashlyn at Cascade Springs. I think the only person I didn't get a picture of was the new mom (Chelsea) herself. That's too bad cuz she's way cute!

I think over the course of the two weeks that we were there, there were only 2 nights that some other family member(s) weren't there also. Too bad they weren't all there at the same time. It would have made for a great reunion. But then again, it would have also made for a VERY crowded house.

I also got to see some old roommates (Liz, Chelsea, Kay, and Kati) and some great friends of ours (Brett and Chad East and their two adorable kids). Unfortunately, I didn't get to see all the friends I would have liked to see since we had so much family in town. But, I am sure I will be back out in Utah soon enough. Sorry if you live in Utah and you're reading this, and I missed you. I'll have to make it up to you next time.

I also spent one whole night cleaning up after a sick child (Leah), got to do a session at the Jordan River Temple (hooray), went to Cafe Rio THREE times (I'm good for at least a year), ate at Pizza Factory (yummy breadsticks), Cafe Fresh (formally known as Fresh Food Junkies), and Nielson's Frozen Custard, stopped at my old work (Cookies by Design, which is now owned by someone else), drove by the apt. complex where Paul and I met, stopped at BYU to take a few pictures with the kids, went to "Hollywood Connection" (kind of ghetto indoor amusement place, but the kids had fun roller skating, mini golfing, going on rides, and watching a magic show), shopped a little at the mall, and got a speeding ticket (I swear cops in Utah don't have anything else to do except hand out tickets for traffic violations).

All in all, it was a great trip. I am, however, glad to be home.

"I'm feeding my baby mommy"

See that little doll tucked up under Leah's shirt. Sheesh!!!

I'm sure many of you have experienced this if you have young kids, but still. It's kind of funny. Kind of....

I LOVE the Fall

I'm back! Hooray. It was a crazy and fun two weeks filled with family, family, more family and a few friends too. More pictures and stories to come, but for now, I will leave you with a picture of the beautiful Fall Leaves of Utah. Ah....I wish CA got so pretty in the Fall. Oh well. CA has it's perks too. 

We're SO Proud!

That's right! My sweet, but shy, little Ashlyn got 8 out of 8 points on her first speech in Kindergarten. Okay, so we practiced it everyday for almost 2 weeks, but still. This is a girl that won't even say a prayer in public because she is too shy. I'm so proud of her I could cry.

This is what she said:
Hello, my name is Ashlyn. I am five years old and I like princesses.

Bath Time

I love my baths!

Hooray!

My kids have a new cousin!!! So it's a 2nd cousin, but it still counts because we are super close. I'm so excited for my cousin, Chelsea, and her new little girl born Friday night (9/12) at 10:15 pm, weighing 6 pounds 14 ounces and measuring 18 inches long. Her name is Cali Rae and she is perfect. Everything went well and knowing my disgustingly cute cousin, she is already back to her prebaby weight (I think she gained 14 pounds her whole pregnancy. Yes, we can all hate her.) Sorry I don't have a picture. The only one I've seen so far was through a text and I don't know how to get it off my phone. I'm heading to Utah in a couple of weeks to go meet her. Yay!!!

Test your color IQ

Paul sent this to me. It's been going around Dreamworks. All the artists want to try and beat each other out I guess.

The lower the score the better. Good thing Paul's job has nothing to do with color. Paul got a 52. I got a 0. That's right....I'll be the one picking out colors for our walls someday. Ha ha.....

http://www.xrite.com/custom_page.aspx?PageID=77

Seaworld

We wanted to visit a Theme Park while in Florida, but we wanted something that was good for little B. So we ended up at Seaworld and had a blast despite the disgusting, nasty, awful (you get the point) humidity and heat. Seriously CA has nothing on FL compared to the heat index. It was quite awful. I know I grew up there, but seriously, I don't know how. The weather is awful during the summer. Oh well. We had tons of fun anyway. We just jumped in the shower the moment we got home. Here are a few pictures.

This is actually at a restaurant the night before we went to Seaworld. Little B was the best little traveler. He went along for the ride and was so good everywhere we went. And when he needed a nap....he just took one. Poor little thing. He was so tired. What a trooper!

My brother and sister at Seaworld. We got to feed the stingrays. It was awesome. You hold the fish inbetween your two fingers and let the stingray kind of suck it out of your hand. It was creepy, but cool.

And here's my happy boy waiting for the Shamu Show to start. What a cutie!

The one and only shot with Pop (my Dad).

This little dolphin seriously was posing for the camera. He was so friendly. It was adorable. He kept swimming around in front of us, playing with us, and letting me get some good shots.