Butler Family Bugle

Progress & Motivation

2012-02-17T20:00:00.004-05:00

It has officially been three weeks since my diet began and my weight loss thus far....

DRUM ROLL PLEASE!

7.8 LBS

There have been a few things getting me through the un-fun-ness of dieting. The first is this...

This stuff is delicious with a little skim milk. Sometimes I have it for more than one meal a day.

Additionally, when I meet a goal, I reward myself. My reward this week was this shirt from H&M.

During my freshman year of college, there was a big trend on campus to wear denim shirts with khaki pants. I remember going to Gap and buying my denim & khaki outfit and feeling like a million bucks. Alas, that was 16 years ago and the trend came and went, but guess what it came back again. Well, maybe not the khaki part, but the denim shirt is definitely in style and back in my closet for only $19.95 and 7.8 pounds.

Another thing motivating me this week is this jerk I knew in high school. We had a tradition in my school that the graduating Seniors left a will for their underclassman that was published for all the world to see. When I was a sophomore this guy willed to me a thigh master because, "I know she'll need it eventually." I take a little pleasure in reporting that this guy turned out to be a total loser just as I suspected he would. Then again, I guess I should thank him for providing me that extra motivation that I needed this week. By the way, if you read my blog, he who must not be named, and you know who you are, you should really get a life. But don't worry, I'm not bitter or anything.

Finally, sometimes I get impatient that losing weight takes so much time and effort, yet nobody seems notice all of my hard work. The following picture helps me to keep a healthy perspective about how far I have already come.

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T12:41:00.007-05:00

Love, Nash & Harley

source

Valentine's 2012

2012-02-10T14:45:00.000-05:00

My Handmade Ryan Gosling

2012-02-09T16:34:00.001-05:00

There are pictures floating around the web of Ryan Gosling cheering on his crafty wife. In fact, there is a whole website devoted to this hilarity. It is called Handmade Ryan Gosling. You can check it out HERE. Apparently, SOME women fantasize about being married to Ryan Gosling and having him encourage their craft obsessions. Therefore, they are projecting what their ideal Ryan would say to them in the midst of their crafting chaos. I wrote and submitted five of my very own Handmade Ryan Gosling's a few days ago. I thought I would share what I submitted. They may or may not be related to my own life experiences, or rather Scott's experiences being married to me.

Atley's Testimony

2012-02-09T00:01:00.001-05:00

Last Sunday Atley decided that he wanted to bear his testimony. For those of you who are not familiar with our religion, once per month members of the congregation stand up and talk about what they believe and perhaps experiences that have helped them to increase their faith. Scott has been trying to help me not OVER PARENT, so I reluctantly agreed to let him go. First, I asked him what he thought he might say. His reply was, "I don't know mom, but I got it covered." I was a nervous wreck as he walked up to the stand and waited for his turn.

Here is Atley's testimony verbatim:

"Good morning Ladies & Gentlemen. Welcome to church today. You really need to read your scriptures and everyone of you should get baptized and start treating eachother a lot better (LONG PAUSE) and never kill anybody. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen."

Well, the entire congregation was laughing because of the tongue lashing they had just received from a seven year old. I was laughing so hard tears were rolling down my cheeks when Atley sat back down. He asked, "Are you crying because you are so proud of how good I just did that?" Yup, buddy that is exactly why I am crying.

Here are a few of the comments I received after the meeting.

"I was starting to doze off when my wife nudged me and said, 'There's a Butler on the stand.' I knew I better listen because it was going to get good. I wasn't disappointed."

"Hey, I thought your kid was going to start pounding on the pulpit."

"Your son sure has a lot of confidence."

"I loved Atley's testimony today. It is always good to get back to the basics."

"Wow, you really have your hands full!"

YA THINK?

Dessert Anyone?

2012-02-08T00:01:00.001-05:00

Nash called these treats, "A Little Piece of Heaven!" I have to agree. I made these for a Super Bowl Party we attended. Don't think you have to have the funky little machine to make these either. They are super simple and worth each step.

1. Bake a cake from your favorite mix. I used chocolate, of course!

2. Let the cake cool completely and then, this is the really fun part, crumble it up in a large bowl.

3. Add about 3/4 cup of your favorite frosting. I used chocolate, of course, and mash it all together.

4. Form balls, just smaller than a golf ball and place in the freezer for about an hour, but not long enough to completely freeze your cake

5. Take out a few at a time. Dip a sucker stick into some melted chocolate and then stick the stick into the cake ball. Next, dip the entire ball in chocolate, shake off the excess chocolate, if there is such a thing.

6. Sprinkle with whatever, or not. Place them upside down on a sheet of wax paper or stick them right side up in some Styrofoam.

7. Enjoy!

Confession Time

2012-02-07T00:02:00.002-05:00

I need to lose 25 pounds and I am finally ready to admit it. When Nash was about a year old I found my perfect weight. I wasn’t dieting just nursing. I wasn’t back to my high school weight, didn’t really want to be, but I was 25 pounds lighter than I am now. It was great. I had energy and I felt comfortable in my clothes, not to mention my skin. Well, here I am 4 years older with another baby and the heaviest I have ever been (not counting during or after pregnancy). I didn’t realize how much weight I had gained because I avoided scales like the plague. I kept seeing pictures of myself and convincing myself that it was a terrible camera angle. I even threw away a pair of jeans that were just UNFLATTERING! However, I knew that my clothes didn’t fit the same way, even my wedding ring was tight. My fingers didn’t wrap around my wrists or thighs the way that they used to, but I assumed I had gained about five pounds. So, I exercised, somewhat sporadically, and I read a book called French Women Don’t Get Fat.

This book has some good ideas about eating smaller portions more slowly. But, then there were some totally unrealistic things like never eating in the car and sitting down for each meal with a linen table cloth and china, or going the market each day and only buying fresh food. Well, the author apparently never had kids or a life on the go. But, the book did encourage me to get real about my weight and to realize that 80% of weight loss begins in the kitchen not on the treadmill.

I found myself at Costco about 10 days ago and like divine intervention the scales were on sale. I got on the said scale, right there in the store, and it took all my courage to hold back the tears when I read the numbers flashing in front of me. I made Nash get on the scale to make sure that it was correct. It seemed to be, but maybe it was meaner to girls, so I pulled Harley out of the cart and made her weigh too. Apparently, the scale wasn’t sexist. I had gained 15 pounds in the past six months. Look, I realize that there are worse things in life. Maybe this problem is a little petty in the grand scheme of things and truth be told, if I am going to die tomorrow, I sure as heck am not going to diet today. But, then I thought, if I continue with this trend I will have gained 300 pounds in 10 years. SCARY! You know those little charts that give you a healthy weight range based on your age, height and body type; for the first time in my life I was no longer within my healthy weight range. So, I bought the stupid scale and I decided that I had to do something. I want to get back to the 25 pound lighter me that I remember from 4 years ago, the one that would go to the beach or the pool and actually take off her sundress. So, just like the children’s book…

If you give a mom a scale, she is going to need a serious diet to
go with it.

First, I found a great WEBSITE.

It is a lot like Weight Watchers Online, but free. The sight allows you to log your current weight, the amount you would like to lose and then provides a healthy amount of time that it should take you to lose the weight. You can also put in your own date and it will calculate how many calories you should consume to achieve your goals. You can log the food you eat and it calculates the number of calories. You can also log your activity and it will also figure out the calories burned. You can even keep track of how much water you are drinking. To meet my goals I can only consume about 1100 calories per day, which is about 2/3 less than what I had been eating. Does it suck? Someday’s more than others, but with each day I am successful I get a little more confident that I can meet my goals. I feel like I am also learning something, although embarrassing to admit, about what foods are fattening and not good for you. I honestly never read the back of the box. I had no idea just how fattening whole milk was until I put my first cup into my food log and realized that maybe I needed to buy some skim.

Second, exercise! While I am learning that exercise isn’t as important as what I eat, it can boost my metabolism and give me the energy I need to keep going. I have also learned that just running or just doing aerobics or yoga isn’t the best thing for my body. Rather I need to change it up! Not only does this keep me from getting bored it keeps my body on guard and away from exercise ruts. For example, running three miles when you are out of shape burns a substantial more amount of calories than running three miles does when you are skinny and in great shape. That is why you need to mix it up and keep challenging yourself.

Third, I find myself obsessively weighing, sometimes twice a day. But, I am learning that women especially have weight fluctuations throughout the day and of course, throughout the month. I am trying to only weigh myself once per week, at the same time of day, and always wearing the same clothes.

After 7 days of diet and exercise I have lost 3.2 pounds. I had some challenges this weekend called the Super Bowl and eating out, but I am trying to get re-motivated this week. I have had very little sugar and after a few days of migraines, I feel much better than I did even 3 pounds ago. I have evil thoughts sometimes, like, “What is the point of all this?” and “If this is what life is going to be like forever, I would rather be fat.” Then I remind myself that the dieting part is only temporary until I reach my goal. Maintaining my weight won’t be quite so limiting and hopefully, I will have developed a new lifestyle and a greater idea of what foods to avoid and which to indulge.

Why am I airing out all of my XXL dirty laundry? Mainly, for accountability. The blog provides me a place to report my good news each week and I would hate to disappoint. Wish me luck!

Our First Reward

2012-02-06T14:03:00.000-05:00

Our family finished reading 1 Nephi last week, so, we cashed in our first reward over the weekend, with skating at the National Sculpture Garden. Atley was borderline professional, Nash spent a lot of time lying on the ice or clinging to the rail for dear life and Harley enjoyed the view from the peanut gallery.

Fluffy Thoughts Bakery

2012-02-04T15:32:00.001-05:00

A long time ago I wrote a cupcake review on my blog. That was long before Fluffy Thoughts opened just down the street. I honestly think Fluffy Thoughts takes the cake. We went there Thursday on a preschool field trip. Due to my diet from hell, I could only have a taste but... YUM! YUM! Although, the fact that I haven't had any sugar for 10 days might have been the reason for the extreme deliciousness!

Harley couldn't finish her cupcake while at the store so she continued eating when we returned home. I love this picture. It is as if she is saying...

"Oh, I want more but I musn't!"

Fire Station Field Trip

2012-01-20T19:48:00.000-05:00

Nash has the best little preschool co-op. Thursday we went to the fire station. I am sure that if Nash didn't have his heart set on being a junk man he would definitely want to be a fireman after Thursday's tour.

STOP, DROP, & ROLL!

Race Track

2012-01-18T06:47:00.000-05:00

Nash would watch TV or play Angry Birds all day if I let him. I have to make an effort to create things for him to do that will distract him from those two things. Yesterday we made a track out of blue painter's tape in our kitchen. Although you can't tell in the pictures, the track wraps through the dining room, living room, foyer, and back into the kitchen making quite a huge loop for his cars.

Mission Organization

2012-01-16T20:33:00.006-05:00

I rarely accomplish anything without a list. There is something so fulfilling about checking something off of a list. I must confess though, sometimes I write things down that I have already done just so I have something to cross off. Lists are cool, right? And didn't someone say once that a goal that isn't written down is just a wish. So, in an effort to complete all of my resolutions and fulfill my need to cross something off of a list here is my booklet of lists/charts/organizational tools. They are all laminated and hanging by a jump ring in my kitchen. Laminating my lists makes it possible to use a dry erase marker and re-use them everyday.

I didn't invent any of these lists I just tweaked them to work for me. I don't have time or space to include everything in my booklet but here are a few of my favorites for your list making pleasure.

I posted earlier about our Book of Mormon family reading goals for the year, but HERE is the chart that we use to mark our progress.

My favorite and most important list. You can find it right HERE.

Weekly Menu Planner a must!

SOURCE

Daily Cleaning Schedule. This isn't my checklist. Unfortunatley, my list extends into the weekend, but THIS BLOG allows you to dowload a schedule and costumize it for your own home.

Also included are some of my favorite workouts.

Look What Harley Has?

2012-01-13T15:37:00.001-05:00

Harley learned the price of beauty today when she got her ear's pierced. I have been wrestling with this decision for the past 20 months and finally decided to bite the bullet. She looks so cute but a little too grown up for my taste.

Before...so excited!

Still before...but a little nervous, like momma, because of the lady's speech about all of the horrible things that could go wrong!

During!

After...pretty as a picture!

This, That, & The Other

2012-01-11T16:47:00.001-05:00

What has been happening at our house? Well, I have been sick and I realized that one sick day for mom requires a minimum of 3 days make-up housework when she recovers. I am feeling much better now. All that remains of my illness is a creepy looking sore in my mouth. I am trying really hard not to check WebMD and diagnose myself with mouth cancer.

The kid's have been busy. We went to a birthday party and they and Scott are now hooked on KARAOKE! I guess we will aim for American Idol instead of the NFL.

As is always the case in our house, the boys and girl are in constant competition for our attention. Sibling rivalry was exhibited in true form this week when Atley decided to make me breakfast one morning, complete with a squirt of Easy Cheese for dessert.

Not wanting big brother to one-up him, Nash followed suit with a yummy breakfast of Nutella dipped banana among other things. Did I eat it all? Of course, come to think of it this might be the explanation for my sudden illness.

It snowed here! Not much, but enough for the kids to get excited and make our hill slick enough to sled down. Plus, Harley was the cutest snow bunny EVER!

Atley's Snow flower!

Harley is finally starting to watch TV. The moment every good mother waits for! She is hooked on Elmo & Cookie Monster and will devote at least 7 concentrated minutes to them each day! This just so happens to be the perfect amount of time for me to cook one of my gourmet meals of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. WINNING!

When the children discovered just how talented they were at Karaoke, they decided to diversify by learning some dance moves as well. What can I say, they got them Moves like Jagger!

Harley has been a tomboy since birth and probably even before, but so far I have been able to dress her in frilly things with girly colors. However, that is changing. Today she had on an adorable outfit and her hair was done in two pig tail buns! Of course, she put an angry bird shirt on over her cute outfit and a frog colored stocking cap on the cute hair. She was ready to ride and boy does she ride-like a maniac on her squishy cow.

Back to Baltimore Aquarium

2012-01-07T18:23:00.003-05:00

I was looking back at previous posts and I realized that nearly every winter there has been a post about a trip to the Baltimore Aquarium. Of course there is a reason for that, Friday night's throughout the winter, tickets to the aquarium are only $5. At least they used to be $5 and now they are $8, which is still a bargain considering that admission is regularly like $25. Wow, sorry about all the math! The kids and I drove up after school alone because daddy ~~was grouchy~~ needed a break. Don't worry we still love him but also enjoy making him feel guilty for missing such a memorable evening with the children!

Baltimore's inner harbor is beautiful and the weather was fantastic, but I must say that Baltimore is also a little bit scary, especially when you are alone and walking the streets at night. We had trouble finding parking so we ended up parking several blocks away in Little Italy and walking to the harbor. It was all fine in the daylight but when we were leaving and it was pitch black, I was pretty nervous. When we found our selves alone on a dark back alley with water on one side and darkness on the other, I made the kids start running. I quickly realized it was fruitless because they were way too slow. Never fear I always make a plan. My plan was to either ditch them if someone got to close or have everyone jump in the water if we were assaulted. I figured no one would want to hurt us bad enough to jump into the freezing cold water too. I told the boys my plan, not the ditching them plan, but the jumping in the water plan to which Nash replied, "I think I will take my chances with a bad guy!"

Maybe I wouldn't have been so frightened if we could have just walked to our car but no, we had to stop every 10 feet for Nash to do another planking move on the street!

We ate at Potbelly before we went into the aquarium. Why is eating with my children always such an adventure? We were sitting by the front and every time someone from outside would start walking towards the door to enter Nash would stand up and lock the deadbolt. He said he thought it was more romantic with just the four of us. I think the management was getting a little annoyed.

Harley enjoyed the evening but everything seemed to be even better when she had a cookie in her hand. Funny, I feel the same way about life.

For the Love of Popcorn

2012-01-03T05:00:00.002-05:00

If you were to ask my husband and children what one food item would be the most frightening to run out of in an emergency, they would unanimously tell you popcorn. There is some sort of wacky Butler gene that programs each one of them to love popcorn, until the rest of us want to hurl. My house has smelled like a movie theater for almost 13 years and I think popcorn is at least 1/3 of our food budget. Popcorn is a DAILY staple in our household and I am nearly positive that it is consumed by my family in far greater quantities than water. Amazingly, Harley is probably the most obsessed with these fluffy white morsels. She, honestly wakes up in the morning and it is the first thing she asks for. She also knows that her Dad is the popcorn maker in the family and all she has to do is approach him any time, day or night, and say, "Pocky!" Her popcorn wish is his command.

She then commences her popcorn dance! I find it very similar to a Native American Rain Dance. She doesn't stop until the popcorn is popping!

Wait for it...wait for it!

AHH! Popcorn Ecstasy!

When all else Fails, go Bowling!

2012-01-02T15:56:00.003-05:00

Today was the last day of Christmas vacation and I had a fabulous day planned. Unfortunately, I failed to calculate just how many other people also had a fabulous day planned because everywhere we went it was either full or sold out. Forlornly, we started driving home when Atley noticed a billboard for a bowling alley. "Hey, mom we should go bowling." Nash replied with, "Yeah, mom I'm with Atley." Why not? Bowling alone with three kids, one being a baby, sounds like great fun!

Atley looking up at the score board and realizing that he just beat us all, while Nash tries to deal with the defeat.

Look at that form! Nash's favorite part was crossing the penalty line to hear it beep and then sliding half way down the lane with his ball!

Usually, the most gross thing at the bowling alley is wearing other people's shoes. Today I was much more grossed out by the fact that Harley was convinced that the ball was a giant jaw breaker that she must lick and try to chew.

And yes, she is barefoot and holding a 10 lb. ball.

Strong=Yes!

Smart=No!

YUM! YUM!

Scripture Study Schedule

2012-01-01T20:29:00.003-05:00

I have a whole BUNCH of new year's resolutions that I won't bore you with in a lengthy blog post, but I will say that all of them, like all resolutions should be, are things that I hope make me a better person. We all know that we are either progressing or regressing and (confession time) I think I have been regressing. No, I am not on the road to apostasy, but I know I can do and be better. Several years ago I read all of the Standard Works in the span of one year. Somedays it was painful, especially the days of Old Testament scripture study, but I felt like my testimony increased and I saw very clearly how each of the Standard Works correlate. I progressed that year, so I am going to do it again in hopes of a similar outcome. If anyone wants to join me I have created a reading schedule that you can click on in my sidebar. Happy reading!

For our family scripture study, I found this great chart which includes rewards on our way to finishing the Book of Mormon. Please check out the source below.

SOURCE

Harley's 1st Haircut

2011-12-28T15:00:00.002-05:00

While my mom was visiting we took Harley to the BEAUTY SHOP! She was excellent while they cut her hair just as long as she was sitting on my lap and sucking on a lollipop.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-28T00:01:00.002-05:00

We had a great Christmas! Everyone got spoiled and everyone was happy with their gifts. Everything fit and we almost had enough batteries for all of the toys. It was especially nice having church on Christmas morning. It was a good reminder of what the day is really about! The kids, exhausted from the night before, actually slept until about 6:30 AM, before running down the stairs to see if they had been naughty or nice.

Atley got a motorized scooter, remote controlled helicopter, a Nerf bazooka, Nintendo 3DS with lots of games, clothes, a Muppet, stuffed animals, movies, and way too much candy!

Nash got a redskins uniform, CARS 2 Track, Angry Birds Game and toys, a Muppet, Nerf Bazooka, Nintendo 3DS with games, clothes, stuffed animals, movies, and way way too much candy!

Harley got a cookie monster, vacuum, laptop, cow to ride, Belle doll, shoes, doll house, dresses, dresses, dresses, dresses, and never enough candy!

Although the helicopter has been stuck in the tree and lost in the neighbors yard, everything is still working 2 days after Christmas, which in my opinion is a Christmas Miracle! We learned that next year we will only buy Harley's presents at the dollar store because her favorite gift of all was a little green rubber bear that was purchased there. She also likes Cookie Monster but refuses to feed him cookies. I think she is worried about his health.

Christmas Eve...

2011-12-27T21:00:00.000-05:00

was a big party at our house with lots of food and some really great friends. Our friend Natalie brought her guitar and we sang carols and acted out the 12 days of Christmas. Atley performed Silent Night on the piano at the beginning of our nativity program where he played Joseph, Nash a shepherd, and Harely a naughty little sheep. The kids got into the whole dressing up thing and Harley emerged from the basement as a mechanic/witch at one point. It was a great time and we feel truly blessed to have such great friends around us.

Eventually Harley kicked baby Jesus out of the manger and took a little rest herself!

Knuffle Bunny

2011-12-27T17:00:00.003-05:00

We went to the Kennedy Center on the 23rd to see a musical production of Mo Willem's book Knuffle Bunny!

We love this book at our house and the musical was adorable, so was watching the kids explore the Kennedy Center.

Christmas Trains!

2011-12-27T13:00:00.001-05:00

We got back from Williamsburg just in time to join Nash's preschool group on a trip to the train exhibit at the National Botanical Gardens. The train exhibit is only there at Christmas time and we go every year. It is pretty magical. It was especially fun watching Harley this year. She loves pretending she is a big girl and she definitely knows that she is a female the way she gravitates towards other little girls!

Part 3-Busch Gardens

2011-12-27T09:07:00.000-05:00

Most of Busch Gardens is closed down during the winter months, but throughout the Christmas season they open in late afternoon for what is called Christmas Town. There are some rides open, Christmas shows, including Harley's favorite Sesame Street Christmas, millions of beautiful lights, games, and food. I think I earned back some points after the Colonial Williamsburg disaster when we took the kids to Christmas town.

Colonial Williamsburg-Part 2

2011-12-27T08:39:00.006-05:00

Wikipedia Definition:

The motto of Colonial Williamsburg is "The future may learn from the past". The Historic Area is an interpretation of a Colonial American city, with exhibits including dozens of authentic or re-created colonial houses and relating to American Revolutionary War history. Rather than an effort to preserve antiquity, the combination of restoration and re-creation of the entire colonial town attempts to re-create the atmosphere and the ideals of 18th-century American people and revolutionary leaders. Interpreters work and dress as they did in the era, using colonial grammar and diction.

This was our second trip to visit Colonial Williamsburg. The last time we visited Atley was barely 4 and Nash was about 22 months old. I blamed their ages on the horrible time we had and was so excited to go back. I love history. I love learning about the daily life of people in Colonial times. I was especially excited to see the city decorated for Christmas and as much as I want to write about how wonderful the whole visit was, I would be lying if I did. The kids were bored, including my husband and Granny. I think I am done trying to make my family like Colonial Williamsburg. Next, time I go alone! It wasn't all bad, but it definitely wasn't the memorable learning experience I had envisioned. Here are some highlights!

After getting oriented at the Visitor's Center guests can walk or take a shuttle to the historic district. We chose to walk because only walking will get you to Great Hopes Plantation. A small working plantation. A slave explained how the farm was more reflective of the way most Virginian's lived in the 18th century.

When we first arrived in the historic district the Marquis de Lafayette was speaking at the Governor's Royal Palace. He was fantastic. He told tales of how he became involved with the American Revolution and how he became great friends with George Washington. He was very animated and the kids listened pretty intently during his 20 minute speech.

Behind the palace was a maze of hedges that the boys got lost in for a few minutes until their dad scared the heck out of them when he popped out of the bushes.

Harley loved the horses. Nash enjoyed the British flags and Atley liked climbing on any and everything he could find.

I wish I could have a pair of these built in the back yard.

Nash bought a tin whistle at Prentice's Store and tried to teach his sister to play.

The Powell house is especially designed for children to gain some hands on historic experience. It was our last stop of the day. Nash helped make a currant cake. Atley made a scent pack for his drawer. They learned how colonial children were taught and played a game or two of Shut the Box.

We left with a bang when Nash leaned or climbed on an antique table and it came crashing into a pile on the floor. Everyone was really nice about the disaster.

Thanks family for indulging me on yet another trip to Colonial Williamsburg. I know that it was cold, way too much walking, and a little boring. I promise not to force you to have fun again, at least not for a day or two anyway.

Williamsburg Part UNO

2011-12-27T06:00:00.001-05:00

On the 17th we took off for a few days to Williamsburg, VA. Thanks to my brother and sister-in-law we were able to stay in an awesome resort. Of course, everyone was a little tired after the birthday party.

I love this picture of Granny and Harley. Their personalities are very similar!

Our first day in Williamsburg was spent mostly in and/or on the water. We spent the morning playing in the pool with the kiddos

Of all the fun things we saw and did while Granny was visiting, she said that watching the kids swim was her favorite because of how happy it makes Atley. He loves to swim and he excels at it, which makes it fun for everyone.

We drove down to Norfolk and took a cruise around the Naval Base. The kids were in heaven seeing aircraft carriers, destroyers, and even submarines.

Nash's Birthday Extravaganza

2011-12-26T22:00:00.001-05:00

Only Nash would agree to wait an extra day to open his presents and celebrate his birthday just so that his granny could be there with him. He is patient like that and when I have more time I am going to write a bunch of the other things I love about this little guy! Granny flew in on the 16th of December and after picking her up we went to Don Pablo's for Nash's birthday dinner. Quesadillas are his favorite food so it was absolutely perfect.

He hugged all the waitresses after the song and then apologized for not being able to speak Mexican which was a little embarrassing!

After dinner we went to ICE! at National Harbor-a huge tent filled with extraordinary ice sculptures and slides. The theme this year was Merry Madagascar.

Above is Nash sliding down one of the ice slides and of course to everyone's shock and later applause we sent Harley down the slide too. It was sooooo cute and a little hilarious.

Finally, it was time to go home and actually open the presents he had been waiting for, for what seemed like 9 years according to him. Nash had a British themed birthday party because of his obsession with all things English.

It is hard to believe that he is five years old and I already get weepy when I think of him going to kindergarten next year. I love you Nacho!

Crafty Christmas

2011-12-16T09:20:00.003-05:00

One of my favorite things about Christmas is making stuff! Stuff for other people, stuff for my house, stuff for myself, stuff with my kids, and of course stuff to eat. Anywho, it seems like this year there has been no time for anything like that and I miss it. So, I walked away from the laundry and dirty dishes for a day and I made some stuff.

My friend showed me how to make these paper stars. I hung them over my kitchen table and I think that they are lovely. I didn't take pictures while making them but I found an almost exact tutorial in blog land if you want to make some too. I am thinking about spray painting them after Christmas so that I can leave them up all year long!

Every year we go through the pain and drama of family pictures. While, the pictures usually turn out okay, I don't know if they have ever been worth the money, tears, or the suffering. This year we took our own pictures in the back yard. I am certainly no professional but I think they turned out pretty cute.

They are all saved on my computer and I haven't had time to have any professionally printed but I did Mod Podge them onto some cheap 8x10 canvas that I found. I love the vintage look it gave the photographs.

How do you do it? Cut some tissue paper a little larger than your printer paper. Place the tissue paper on your printer paper and tape down the excess tissue paper onto the back of your printer paper. Run it through your printer and then peel off the tape. Put a very thin layer of Mod Podge on your canvas and carefully lay the tissue paper on top. That's it!

To make the JOY sign I just Mod Podge some wooden letters with Christmas paper. I also put a little card stock under the bell to make it stand. For the tree in the back I used a Styrofoam cone. I cut strips of paper, glued the ends together and starting from the bottom began gluing them to the cone. For each row the strip of paper should be a little smaller. For the star on top, I made a miniature version of the stars above.

For my grandma's this year I embroidered these geography pillows. I saw them for sale online for about $30 and thought I could totally do that for a whole lot less. I hope they LOVE them as much as I do.

For Scott's birthday we made him a Butterfinger cake. Yes, the kid's and I sampled it before we gave it to him. Sad, huh? But, it looked so yummy we lost all control.

Here is the recipe:

Yellow Cake Mix

1 Can of Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 Jar of Smucker's Caramel Ice Cream Topping

1 tub of Cool Whip

4 Butterfinger Candy Bars

Bake the cake following the directions on the box. While still warm poke holes in it and pour on the condensed milk and caramel topping. Let cool completely and frost with Cool Whip. Then top with crushed candy bars!

Man Alive, Look Who's FIVE!

2011-12-15T06:00:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday & Other Stuff

2011-12-14T14:33:00.004-05:00

First of all Happy Birthday to my hubby! If he had 7 hands he could show you exactly how old he is, but alas he does not! We will be celebrating tonight by doctoring our kids back to health after being infested with Strep Throat. Fun times!

Ispy still visits nightly. Recently, he made snow angels out of flour, replaced the kid's stockings with their WHITIE TIGHTIES, apparently he had to take the stockings back to the North Pole to be measured, he caught a terrible cold, and went fishing in our toilet.

Harley pulled the Christmas Tree down and when she did so, clapped her hands and exclaimed, "Bye, Bye Pretty!" She also managed to climbed on top of our piano, by first climbing onto the bench , then the piano keys. Once on top I spotted her grabbing all of the baby Jesus' from our creche's and saying, "Bye Bye Baby!" More like "Bye, Bye, Momma!" I need a vacation.

Atley has been trying to help his sister overcome her fear of St. Nick by dressing up in his own Santa costumes, but I am afraid it is only making things worse.

Santa paid us a visit via Fire Truck one night and gave all of us candy canes.

Harley & Nash have been spending a lot of time playing in this bucket...

and working on their dad's birthday gift. It is a shirt with a city on the back. The kids can drive their cars on his back to give him a massage.

Source

TOMS

2011-12-11T07:49:00.002-05:00

Most of you have probably heard of TOMS shoes, if not here is the story. You buy a pair and TOMS donates a pair to a child in need. I love that! What more could we want girls, buying shoes without feeling guilty because you are not only getting you are giving? Not to mention these might be the most comfortable shoes in existence. Plus, just look at them. They make you feel like Aladdin when you are wearing them. We all know that Aladdin was AWESOME! So, friends do something good for the world today-GO SHOPPING!!

Pigtails...

2011-12-08T14:29:00.000-05:00

or DEVIL HORNS?

Sometimes I wonder!

This week at our house!

2011-12-07T21:08:00.004-05:00

Ispy has been very busy. Here are a few of his latest midnight tricks!

He used the toilet paper in our bathroom to make hammocks for him and his little elf friends.

Frustrated by all the rain we have been getting, he strung cotton balls on long strings and hung them in our window with a note saying that he had resorted to creating his own snow storm.

He turned our milk blue!

Oh, the magic of Christmas!

Christmas at the Temple

2011-12-05T20:59:00.001-05:00

The Washington D.C. LDS Temple is a magnificent building, only made more beautiful at Christmas when thousands of twinkling lights surround it. Additionally, the visitor's center is full of creche`s from all over the world. I particularly liked the following two, because I could make them at home. I love the way someone used pictures of their own family acting out the nativity.

She's a Screamer!

2011-12-05T11:07:00.001-05:00

Well, our luck finally ran out with baby #3. Not only has she become the worst sleeper ever but she is also our first child that is afraid of Santa Claus!

Ispy Elf paid us a couple of visits over the weekend, first making Santa's favorite donut,

then making an elf-sized treat. I am pretty sure he iced cheerios and then put sprinkles on them.

Our ward party was Saturday night and I was a bad Sugar Plum fairy in the program, playing air guitar to Black Sabbath. I must say it was completely humiliating.

He's Back!

2011-12-01T21:55:00.005-05:00

Our Elf on the Shelf, a.k.a Ispy, returned tonight making mischief on the kids photographs!

Scott was laughing at me while I was decorating for Christmas because I took down a picture of Christ and put up a giant picture of Santa Claus. In my defense, I just moved the picture of Christ I didn't actually put it away for the season. However, it did make me think that I needed to remind myself and my kids of the real reason for the season. Luckily, some amazing mother has created a perfect way to do this. It is called:
24 Days of Mormon Christmas.
She posts daily devotionals that include songs and scriptures. We did our first devotional tonight right after watching The Muppet's Christmas Special and I felt like it really brought the true meaning of Christmas back into our home. I can't wait to do it every night before bed!

Learning to Add with Dice

2011-11-30T15:15:00.000-05:00

Nash has been learning some basic addition to get ready for Kindergarten next year and the funnest and least painful thing we do is play dice.

We begin by numbering a piece of paper to twelve (one list of numbers for each player). I usually make Nash create the list because it is such good practice. Using two dice we take turns rolling and crossing off the numbers on our paper. For example, if I roll a six and a five, I can cross off my five, six, and my eleven. Whoever gets their numbers crossed off first is the winner. It goes pretty fast in the beginning but sometimes trying to get that twelve or eleven is a little tricky.

Yummy Recipes

2011-11-28T15:02:00.001-05:00

This weekend I tried out a few new recipes found mostly on Pinterest. Some were successes and some were failures. Here are my favorites:

Turtles

The picture is pretty self-explanatory but just in case-put a Rollo on a pretzel topped off with a pecan and nuke for 30 seconds!

Funeral Sandwiches

1 Package of King's Hawaiian Rolls

1/2 lb. Ham

Swiss Cheese

1/2 cup butter, melted

3 T. Worcestershire Sauce

2 T. Mustard

2 T. Brown Sugar

Dash of Onion Powder

Cut the rolls in half and line a cake pan with the bottoms of the rolls. Layer the ham and then the cheese and place the top half back on. Mix together the rest of the ingredients and pour it over the rolls. Cover tightly and marinade for 4-24 hours. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Fried Mozzarella Sticks

String cheese wrapped in an egg roll or won ton wrapper and deep fried for about 1 minute. Dip in your favorite marinara sauce. When I gave these to the boys Nash said, "Wow, mom you should work at TGIFriday's these are so good." I think that was a compliment.

Benihana's Sauce

You know that yummy salad/everything dressing you get at hibachi restaurants, well this is almost exactly like it.

1 Cup Mayonnaise

1/4 Cup Water

1 tsp Tomato Paste

1 T Melted Butter

1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

1 tsp Sugar

1/4 tsp Paprika

Dash Cayenne Pepper

Mix everything but the water, add it slowly and mix well. Refrigerate for 24 hours before serving.

Happy Thanksgiving...

2011-11-24T20:39:00.002-05:00

From the Butler's!

I hope everyone had a great holiday. It seems like every year it gets a little easier to completely over look Thanksgiving and head straight into Christmas and the Black FRIDAY fanaticism. We tried our best to pause for a second and be thankful. Unfortunately, I think it was literally only a SECOND! Our day began with the princess walking Jersey, the puppy we are dog sitting and Harley's very best friend in the whole wide world.

Maybe it is just her age or maybe it is just really good genetics, but everything this little girl does right now is ADORABLE! Not that I am biased or anything.

Scott's brother and sister-in-law were planning on coming up for the week with their family, but she went ahead and gave birth to a beautiful and healthy baby boy on Monday so all of our plans changed. We headed to one of our favorite restaurants for their Thanksgiving buffet. Of course, since we made our reservations so late we ended up eating Thanksgiving dinner at 10:30 AM. We managed stuffing ourselves silly just the same. It was so incredibly yummy. There was turkey, prime rib, ham, shrimp, salmon, salads, cheeses, rolls of every variety, melt-in-your-mouth mashed potatoes, green beans with candied pecans, oyster stuffing, corn bread stuffing, danishes, pies, cookies, and an enormous chocolate fountain with fruit, fritters, marshmallows and anything else you could possibly want to dip in chocolate.

Atley is my adventurous eater. He wanted to try everything even brussel sprouts and salmon with capers. Luckily, he loved everything he tried.

Nash completely lost interest in everything when he saw the chocolate fountain!

Harley, well, she ate the butter.

I think I shall never prepare Thanksgiving Dinner again as long as we live near JGilbert's. Here are the kids, full and cozy by the fireplace.

After dinner/brunch we went to the movies and saw...

We highly recommend it!

Panama Jack & His Little Sister

2011-11-14T15:24:00.007-05:00

A couple of months ago we found out that Scott's company was awarded another five year contract with the Smithsonian. We were very excited when we found out. In addition, to that contract they were also given a tropical research center assignment in Panama City, Panama. We weren't exactly sure how we felt about that, but now that we have some more information we are super excited to announce that we will be spending some time in Panama this year. Scott just returned from a week long visit where he made plans to return for several months this winter.

My English teacher in highschool told me before I left for college, "Never let your school work get in the way of your education!" I certainly took her advice to heart my freshman year of college and I am applying the same advice again when I take Atley out of school and attempt to home school him in Central America for a time.

We are making big plans and practicing our Spanish. Scott brought the kids back a hammock from his last trip and they are all practicing lounging on the beach. I am sure that Panama Atley and his little sister will have the art perfected before we leave. We find ourselves swinging Harley back and forth for what seems like hours each night. Undoubtedly, this will be a grand adventure for our family and I am sure I will have lots of stories to write!

Adventures in Shopping

2011-11-12T15:29:00.001-05:00

If any of you pray for patience you should stop right now. I used to pray for patience and then I got Atley and Nash. Plus, I already have a sure fire way for you to acquire some major patience, just go shopping with my children. Since you are in public, you will have no other choice but to be patient because if you are not you will be arrested for child abuse. I was almost arrested today when I dragged my son out of a store by his ear! The ugly incident has been approaching for weeks. Let me start at the beginning.

Nash wanders, really wanders. I lose him almost everywhere I go, church, the school, the store, our house, and he never answers when I call. I lost both him and Atley at the New Orleans airport this summer. I finally heard their noises coming from the men's room. Nash came out and told me that some weird man was talking to Atley in one of the stalls. I freaked out and ran in to find Atley alone and laughing hysterically at their fake pervert joke. Nash especially, finds it funny to hide from me until I am completely panicked. Then he jumps out and says BOO! I used to panic a lot quicker, not anymore. It takes a long absence for me to get really nervous. I lost him for about 20 minutes at Target a few weeks ago. I found him when I heard an older gentleman let out a very un-masculine scream while looking through a rack of clothes. I was about 30 seconds away from calling the police. UGH!!!

Two weeks later we were shopping at Costco. I love Costco but it seems to bring out the very worst behavior in my family, Scott included. Without fail, when we go to Costco, Nash has to pee and it is always a fight because he refuses to go in the women's bathroom, but he has no choice because I don't want him to run into any fake or real-life perverts in the men's room. I ended up dragging Nash kicking and screaming into the women's restroom. I didn't have enough hands to force Atley to come with us so he waited outside the restroom. About mid-stream the fire alarm goes off at the store. Women were rushing to finish their business and get out quickly. I wasn't a bit concerned. Nash and I both figured it was Atley. We were right. He pulled the fire alarm, not only that, but he got busted by one of the workers doing it. UGH! UGH!

Just a few short days after the Costco fiasco, we were at Safeway. I had become completely numb to their antics and decided just to let them run wild while I picked up the one or two items that I needed and then try to find them. Well, about 2 minutes into my shopping excursion, I heard a crash followed by another crash, followed by the elephant feet of my two sons racing through the store trying to find me. You will never know how much I wanted to hide from them, but they found me anyway. "Boys, what was that sound?" Nash replied, "Mom, I think we should just leave fast!" Me, "Show me what you did!" With my head held down in shame I followed them to the floral department where I saw two extra large vases of roses shattered and lying on the ground amidst 3 dozen roses and at least 2 gallons of water. UGH! UGH! UGH!

Yet knowing our track record I decided to take them to the mall this morning. I had a coupon at the Children's Place that was about to expire and while I would have loved to leave them home with their daddy, he has been in Panama City all week and by Panama City I am not talking Florida, I am talking about the one with the canal. I must admit I was a little tired, maybe even a little grouchy. It definitely didn't help matters when I noticed a life sized photograph of an Oompa Loompa at the mall and then I realized it was actually my reflection in a giant mirror. I will never figure out why my mirror at home tells such humiliating lies. But, I digress. We were at the Children's Place and the boys were completely out of control. I talked to them about good behavior in the car driving to the mall. I promised rewards if they could be nice, but no, they were beyond naughty. It was like they had both drank a few Red Bulls before we went to the mall. They were running through the store knocking over clothes and shoes, screaming, and being so obnoxious that I don't even have the vocabulary to describe it. I was tempted to just walk out of the store and leave them there, but I opted for grabbing the closest child by whatever I could catch as he ran by. It happened to be Atley's ear and with the speed with which he was moving I thought for a second that the ear actually came off in my hand. Everyone was staring at me, as I threw down my armful of kids clothes, screamed at Nash to get off his butt and follow me or else, and literally dragged my seven year old by the ear out of the store, while he yelled, "You're killing me!" As I walked past the people in the store I was so annoyed because, you know what they were thinking, "That is the worst mom EVER!" Why don't people ever think, "Those are the worst children ever. I hope she spanks the heck out of them!" Would it have hurt any one to give me a littler cheer, maybe say, "You go MOM!" So, maybe I snapped but I think I was due to snap. In fact, maybe I should have snapped a long time ago and then my snapping wouldn't have had to happen in a store that I actually like and can now never return to! UGH! UGH! UGH! UGH!

Another Soccer Season

2011-11-11T08:08:00.001-05:00

Another soccer season has come to an end and frankly, I am a little relieved. It is getting really cold out side and I am just tired. It has been fun watching the boys play and we learned a lot about each of them. We are convinced that if Atley could only run as fast as he talks trash he would be a super star and Nash needs a course in anger management. What are you gonna do? We love them and they are ours.

Preschool Farm Day

2011-11-03T16:46:00.000-04:00

Trick-or-Treating on Embassy Row

2011-11-01T09:06:00.009-04:00

'Twas the day after Halloween and all through the house,

The kids were on a sugar hangover even Harley the mouse!

Mamma is very sleepy and Nash is a little weepy!

Atley is at school for the teacher to handle

No longer dressed up like a Jedi Vandal!

Okay, enough bad poetry. Yesterday was full of Halloween fun and I really am exhausted today. First, stop Atley's school party. Then in the early afternoon we went into the city to Trick-or-Treat on Embassy Row with some friends, followed by Trick-or-Treating in the neighborhood after dark. Embassy Row in Washington D.C. is pretty much what it's name states-a long street where all of the the embassy's to the U.S. are located. Some of them pass out Halloween candy and some don't but the atmosphere is very exciting and some times a little scary, like when a homeless woman chased the Superman of our group yelling weird things about his candy or when Nash stepped into oncoming traffic. All in all, it is such a uniquely fun D.C. experience we couldn't resist but to try it at least once. I think it will become an annual tradition.

Our first stop was the Moroccan Embassy. We were novices at this so when the guards out front told the kids that they had no candy, the audible whine from all the children inspired the guards to let them into the embassy to wave at the Ambassador. He was sitting behind this weird glass wall and seemed none too happy about a group of kids and their overzealous mom's encroaching on his workplace. I'm pretty sure the guards are without jobs this morning. Sorry!!!

After that experience, we pretty much just sent the kids to the door alone. Nash even managed to break into the Guatemalan Embassy. But, it got him some candy so we continued to encourage the breaking and entering!

When an embassy wouldn't open for us we started shouting things about their country like "We really love leprechauns!" at the Irish Embassy or "Pele` is our hero!" at the Brazilian Embassy. They still didn't let us in, surprise, surprise!

We felt a little sad for the Pakistanis' since their embassy was under foreclosure!

There were lots of Georgetown University students out and one girl in particular was dressed like a very permiscuous Pocahontas. We were cracking up when Nash approached her and said, "Wow, I really like Indians!" Atley noticed her about the same time and quickly approached and added, "Your costume is AWESOME!" I wish I had taken a picture of my flirtatious little boys!

The Egyptians were very welcoming and wanted to take lots of pictures with our children.

If I were giving an award, the South Korean's would take the cake. They gave us a tour and let us sample all kinds of Korean treats!

One observation about the day, the countries that were probably in the worst shape financially were by far the most generous with their candy. Almost every African country was open and sharing-well with the exception of Morocco but Sudan, Niger, Burkina Faso, were all very welcoming and generous. Interesting!

Our Fall Weekend!

2011-10-30T17:38:00.002-04:00

Hey, guess what? We had another busy weekend. Yeah, just like all of you we are blessed to have a really busy life and we love every minute of it. First of all, it snowed and as far as I am concerned it is way too early for that stuff. None of it stuck to the ground but the boys had a great time chasing snowflakes to catch on their tongues.

Because of our lovely weather soccer was cancelled which gave us time to accomplish some much needed chores. Saturday afternoon we had a birthday party at the Cub Run Rec Center. It was so much fun and now I officially know where we are going to celebrate Atley's 8th birthday next May! All the kids are such little fish that it was a pretty hard job pulling them out of the pool when it was over.

The primary program was this Sunday and of course I think my boys were absolutely perfect and the most adorable. Not sure if anyone else felt that way, but if they didn't they are very misguided. It was also Harley's first day of nursery. She will be 18 months old on Thursday. While I thought or maybe secretly hoped, that she would cry for momma. She just walked right in and never looked back. None of my kids have ever missed me, I wonder what that means. She is growing up so fast and it is breaking my heart.

Harley is definitely a tomboy. She's rough, loud, fearless, and has no problem defending herself. But, she is also such a little woman. She is constantly cleaning up around the house and yelling at her "BOYZ" to do something or other. She loves to wear my necklaces and my shoes, has an obsession with chocolate, and talks constantly. She is independent and full of personality. She adores animals and has a puppy that she somehow believes has a chronic cold because she spends hours a day unrolling toilet paper and making the puppy blow his nose. She thinks Atley and her daddy are the two most amazing people on the planet. She likes music and seems to have a thing for Adam Levine because she can hum a perfect tune to, Moves like Jagger and My Hearts a Stereo. She thinks getting her teeth brushed is the greatest part of the day and we are thankful for that. She is anemic and has to take iron drops, so if she didn't let us brush her teeth the iron would turn them brown pretty quickly. Her hair is getting longer and I am having lots of fun playing with it. Here is her latest style!

She is almost always happy and we cannot imagine how we ever lived without a little girl in our house!

Halloween Begins

2011-10-26T09:11:00.002-04:00

It seems like Halloween is always a week long holiday with school parties, neighborhood parties, church parties, and of course the actual Trick or Treating. Last night was the beginning of our Halloween week with the Ward Trunk or Treat! This year our family is going with a Star Wars theme. Harley was all set to be Princess Leia but she refused to keep those essential buns in her hair, so she is now an Ewok and a mighty fine Ewok if I do say so myself. She has the perfect physique for the role. My pictures aren't great but the good news is I have almost an entire week to capture some better ones.

Fittingly, Nash is Master Yoda!

Atley, the Jedi!

Pumpkin Carving

2011-10-24T20:39:00.000-04:00

As tradition dictates in our household, we carved pumpkins tonight, the Monday before Halloween. Hopefully, they won't be too moldy on the big night. Someone told me to put those little silica gel packets from new shoe boxes inside your Jack O' Lanterns. Sounds to me like a perfect excuse to go buy some new shoes. Anyway, here are some pictures of the blessed evening!

Harley's favorite part seemed to be the table dancing! We are only slightly concerned about what this might mean for her future.

TA DA!!!

And finally a little fun Halloween photo editing, or is this natural? I will let you decide-(insert sinister laugh here)!

Time Out For Women

2011-10-23T17:58:00.000-04:00

My friend Jill and I abandoned our families this weekend to attend Time Out for Women in Richmond. It was so lovely! For those who are unaware, Time Out for Women is a program sponsored by Deseret Book. It is a traveling women's conference full of excellent speakers and musical performances. We ate our weight in chocolate, talked until the wee hours of the morning, came back a little bit tired, and of course perfect mother's and wive's. I, for one, stayed perfect for at least 15 minutes. Obviously, I consider that a fantastic success. If I may brag for a moment, my sweet husband managed not only to keep the children alive and healthy, but the house and yard was immaculate when I got home. I actually thought about him at least once while I was gone when I saw this sign for a hot dog named the SCOTTZILLA!

The theme of the conference was to BECOME our best selves. We were encouraged to pick something we want to improve and become that person! Although all of the presenters were incredible and I took something from each of their messages, my favorite talk was given by a woman named Merrilee Boyack. Using the letters BECOME U, she gave examples of women in history who succeeded in their life's mission. She used each letter to represent an important principle that we were encouraged to implement in our life. I want to share her thoughts with you.

B=Be Bold

With God by your side you can accomplish anything, so be fearless!

E=Eternally Minded

Reject Satan's message of worldliness and look at the big picture!

C=Creative

We are daughter's of the most creative being in the universe. A desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul.

O=Outward Focused

If we are complaining about our life it is because we are only thinking about ourselves.

M=Meek

Turn your hearts and will to the Lord.

E=Enlightened

Ask for inspiration and do what the Lord asks you to do each day!

U=Unique

Be yourself! Do not compare or try to change who you are!

Can you see why I came home so PERFECT!!! I truly am grateful for the opportunity I had to attend and I hope I can implement much of what I learned.

Winning, Learning, Calming, Creating

2011-10-20T14:06:00.003-04:00

This is a post about a whole bunch of random things:

Item #1-The PIG TROPHY

My kid's make disasters everywhere. Some of their favorite places to do gross things are in the bathroom and at the dinner table. I am constantly nagging and complaining at my family to clean up after themselves. Something had to give. So, I glittered up a plastic toy pig using Mod Podge. The Pig Trophy is awarded to the biggest pig of the day and that person has to clean up the bathroom, the basement, the kitchen, or wherever the disaster occurred. We all have a love/hate relationship with the Pig Trophy.

Item #2-USING THE POTTY!

Yes, Harley is not quite 18 months old and no, I am not one of those crazy mom's who is already trying to potty train her, but she is showing an interest in the potty chair. She really enjoys stripping off all of her clothes and sitting on the "POTTY!" What is up with getting completely naked to use the toilet? My boys are the same way.

Sometimes she gets distracted and goes exploring.

And sometimes she dethrones to do a trick or two.

Unfortunately, she also has accidents on the floor. But, Harley fears the Pig Trophy and is always willing to clean up her own mess.

Item #3-THE SETTLE DOWN JAR

This may come as a surprise to most of you, considering my superb mother skills, but my children are often completely OUT OF CONTROL! This is especially true when we have visitors or when we are getting ready to do something really exciting. We also have a bit of a temper problem in our house, mom included. Hence, the SETTLE DOWN JAR! This jar sits in our kitchen and when one of my little ~~monsters~~ angels gets a little CRAZY they must shake the jar 10 times and sit down while watching the glitter settle to the bottom. Hopefully, they are settling down just like the glitter does or in other words finding their ZEN! (Yeah, I have been having fun with glitter this week!)

Item #4-PALLET SHELF

Scott brought me an old pallet from work and I went crazy with spray paint and hung it in my living room. I am loving the color burst on my brown walls!

Mod Podge Halloween Lanterns

2011-10-13T08:23:00.000-04:00

I saw this fun idea on Our Best Bites which is a fabulous cooking website. Use Mod Podge to adhere small strips of tissue paper to glass jars. Allow the mod podge to dry and glue on faces with construction paper. Place votives or tea lights inside.

Father & Son Campout

2011-10-12T19:58:00.001-04:00

Last weekend Scott took the boys on their FIRST EVER father & son campout. They were so excited they could barely contain themselves. Can you tell? Just look at Atley before they hopped in the truck to go.

I was fairly certain after they drove away that their first Father & Son campout would probably be there last, considering how much Scott dislikes camping and how wild my boys behave ~~sometimes~~ most of the time. But, fortunately I was wrong. They had a great time riding their bikes, playing in the reservoir, making smores and hanging out with their Dad.

Nash's favorite part- having chocolate milk in the morning. His least favorite part was when he discovered that there wasn't a microwave to warm his chocolate milk.

Atley's favorite part was riding his bike in the mud puddles. His least favorite part was when the older boys said he was going to be their first sacrifice when they lit the bonfire.

Columbus Day

2011-10-10T20:21:00.006-04:00

I think I am becoming a bit of a hermit. Usually, when Atley has the day off from school I have big plans to go there and visit here, see this and learn about that, well today we just stayed home. Maybe it is because we feel like all we do is run around. With soccer, piano, school, and church stuff staying at home is actually becoming a rare treat. We decided to celebrate the reason for Atley being at home-Columbus Day. We watched a few short movies about Columbus on YouTube, colored a few maps of his voyage, baked some yummy treats, and created our very own Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria.

The highlight of our day was the river we made in the back yard for the kids to sail on their own global adventure. I got this idea from Pinterest (my new favorite addiction). Using a few yards of tin foil with the sides folded up slightly to retain water, put a hose at the top of a slope and sail away!

It was a fun day, a little messy but fun!

I LOVE THEM

2011-10-09T18:15:00.001-04:00

Mom FAIL!!

2011-10-06T10:37:00.004-04:00

Every fall when school starts again I get a feeling of nostalgia, a twinge of desire to get back into the classroom. Then I convince myself that my kids need me more at home. We recently went to a party with a bunch of kids who are being raised by nannies or swapped from babysitter to babysitter while their parent's pursue their careers. Guess what, MY KIDS WERE THE WORST behaved of everyone in attendance. Obviously, not-so-super nanny does a heckuva better job than me. Then I see Harley playing with her puppy and I convince myself that I need to be home with my kids. But, the last 24 hours I have be reevaluating once again. There have been a few incidents at our house that cause me to question my fitness as a mother. I am not even talking about Nash's foul mouth on the soccer field or the fact that while trying to find images of school buses online the boys came across some scantily clad women posing rather provocatively on top of a school bus. I could just hear them giggling and Nash saying, "Print it Atley!" When they got busted Nash's reply, "Come on Mom! It is not like we are looking at Naked Women. They are in their swimming suits." Oh, great I feel so much better about your life on the World Wide Web.

Here comes the big stuff. Yesterday, Atley came off the school bus with a scowl on his face. One look at me and he says, "How could you let me wear these pants to school?" I looked down at his pants and thought they were rather cute. Baggy, yes, but he is a skinny kid, baggy is inevitable. I reply with, "What's wrong with your pants?" He says, "They fall off. In fact, they fell off in the middle of music class all the way to my ankles and now everyone calls me underpants man!" Upon further examination of the pants the snap button was broken. I was aware of this problem and was sure that I had thrown the pants out, but apparently I was wrong. As if sending your child to school with pants that don't button is not example enough of terrible mothering. My reaction further proves my rottenness. When Atley said they now call him UNDERPANTS MAN, my first thought was, "Oh, thank goodness he had on underwear." He has a bad habit of going commando. Then, I started to giggle. UNDERPANTS MAN, I mean, it's funny, right? No, it isn't, not when you are seven and it should never be funny to your own mother.

Fast forward 16 hours. We are running late for school. I end up throwing a sweatshirt over the top of my pajamas. Mind you, these are silky bright green pajamas. There is no time to walk to the bus so I pile the kids into the van. I did check Atley's pants. I even made him jump around a little to ensure that they weren't going to fall off during the day. Nash is in his PJ's. Harley is in her PJ's still smelling like a night's worth of pee. I strapped her in her carseat, at least I think I strapped her in her car seat. I definitely hooked the top harness across her chest. We sped to the bus stop and of course we sat their waiting for a bus that was at least 20 minutes late. Finally, the bus arrives. I push a button to slide Harley's door open and let Atley out. At this moment my unaffectionate child decides to shower me with goodbye kisses. I was so excited by the attention that I failed to notice my 17 month old slide out of her crappily harnessed carseat, climb out of the open door and rush towards the kids waiting at the bus stop. Suddenly, Nash yells, "Look, mom! Harley wants to go to school." WHAT? Prepare to be alarmed. I thought, "Oh no! I can't go get her I am in my silky pajamas. All the parents will see me and they will call me PAJAMA LADY!" So, I yelled at Atley to go retrieve his sister. He complied and then got on the bus turning towards me ever so slightly to give me yet another scowl as if to say, "Mom, please hire a nanny and get a real job, because you pretty much suck at this one."

Halloween Decorating Fun

2011-10-04T16:56:00.002-04:00

Have I mentioned before that I really love the fall? Yeah, I guess I have. Another reason for this is I heart decorating for Halloween. Halloween is such a "KID" holiday, so I try to involve the KIDS as much as possible.

Step One: Make Scary Pumpkin Head Man and pose for the camera! He is an annual tradition in our family. We did this while Daddy was at work. When Harley noticed her daddy's pants stuffed and sitting in a chair with no body or head, she had a baby meltdown. I think she thought the boys and I had dismembered her father. She warmed up to the guy once we attached the torso and head!

Step Two: Make a new wreath for the front door. Last year I made a Candy Corn wreath that I loved, BUT we had an unseasonably warm October and the Candy Corn melted all over my front door. One year later there are still traces of the uber sticky candy on our door. I am fairly confident that this wreath will not melt. I spray painted a twig wreath black, made some flowers out of scrap material and buttons, and stuck Mr. Crow in for good measure.

Step Three: Bust out the MUMS and baby pumpkins!

Step Four: Make something with the kiddos. These little ghosts made from plastic cups are sitting on top of some electric candles but battery powered tea lights would work even better.

Step Four: Try to scare people...BOO! I picked up these IKEA frames for $4 several months ago. Eventually, they will hold some of Harley's pictures but for now, they are Halloween decor. I love the detail of the frames and when I think about spray painting them in fun colors after Halloween, it excites me.

Step Five: You can never have too many pumpkins. I made these pumpkins out of a dryer vent. I cut the vent into three equal parts, painted them, (I used spray paint on some and craft paint on others) formed the vent into a circle and hot glued it together. Then I stuck a stick in the middle and some mossy stuff to purtify!

Getting Kicked out of the Band!

2011-10-04T12:30:00.001-04:00

Like her mother before her, Harley has aspirations of rock stardom. So, when she tried to join her brothers on their first gig, (in our kitchen) she was a little overzealous. Needless to say, she was kicked out of the band for being a DIVA! The brother's put her in her place. I am not sure how it happened exactly. I just know that one minute she was playing with them and the next there was some sort of a scuffle and she ended up stewing (in a pot no less). She seems to be doing okay and handling her bandless status with a smile!

Homestead Farms

2011-09-29T15:20:00.001-04:00

I love Autumn for so many reasons, but one of them is definitely the apple/pumpkin farms in our area where you can pick your own apples and choose your own pumpkins. Today we visited Homestead Farms in Maryland with Nash's preschool class. It was a wonderful day!

Union Jack Jeans

2011-09-28T13:26:00.006-04:00

Nash is obsessed with all things British. His fetish is so extreme that if we do not buy our gas at BP, he has a total meltdown. So, when I saw these absolutely adorable Union Jack Jeans at Gap, I almost bought them, but I guess I was inspired not to.

Less, than 2 weeks later I find THIS amazing tutorial on how to make your very own. Now Nash is one jolly little chap!

Not Braggin' BUT-Best Apple Pie Recipe EVER!

2011-09-27T09:32:00.003-04:00

Nash has been learning about apples in preschool and they even baked an apple pie in his last class. Of course this prompted the question from both of the boys, "Mom, why don't you ever make pie? You know really make pie, not buy it from the grocery store." I tried to explain to them that I didn't need to make my own pies when Marie Calendar already did such a good job making pies for me, but they noticed our heaping fruit bowl of apples and so I relented. We decided to make an apple pie together, something I have actually never done. I don't mean to toot my own horn but I'm gonna toot. I am pretty sure that I perfected apple pie baking with just one attempt. First, I rounded up the simplest recipes I could find from the Internet, cookbooks, and grandma. Then came up with my own compilation. Here is the recipe. Enjoy, it wasn't scary at all!

Crust:

1 Cup of Flour

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/2 Cup Butter

1/4 Cup of Ice Water

Sift flour and salt together. Rub small pieces of the cold butter into the flour mixture until pea sized balls form. Add water a few tablespoons at a time. Using a generously floured countertop and rolling pin roll into thin round pattie and place in your lightly sprayed pie pan.

Filling:

5 1/2 Cups of Apples cored, chopped, but not peeled

1 TBLS. Lemon Juice

1/2 Cup Sugar

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

3 TBLS. Flour

1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

1/4 tsp. Nutmeg

Combine ingredients and place on top of crust in pie pan.

Topping:

3/4 Cup Flour

1/4 Cup Sugar

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar

1/3 Cup Butter/Margarine at room temperature

With fork mix ingredients into crumbs and sprinkle over pie filling.

Bake at 375 for 50 minutes. Cool and top with whipped cream or ice cream.

Atley LOVED the pie and ate three slices before bed and one for breakfast. He had the best soccer game of his life the next morning scoring 4 goals. Again don't want to pat my own back but I'm gonna pat-this pie might have magical powers.

Breaking News: Nash didn't like it! Surprise, Surprise, he doesn't like anything that doesn't come from McDonald's or Chick-fil-A.

Harley was sleeping during our baking time but she enjoyed a slice the next morning for breakfast. Once again, I don't mean to sing my own praises, but I'm gonna sing-the pie made her even cuter.

Water!

2011-09-23T16:42:00.001-04:00

It has been raining here for a month with no end in sight. It is discouragingly wet and moldy everywhere we look. Plus it is bringing outdoor creatures inside. We have a spider, ant, and cricket infestation that is about to kill me. The exterminator finally came today and hopefully he remedied the problem, but if it keeps raining I am doubtful. Check out this picture. Those little black spots are sugar ants next to our fireplace.

Although they are harmless any bug in a large quantity is nasty!

The soccer fields are muddy when they are open at all, keeping the boys on an emotional roller coaster of soccer dreams. School has even been cancelled because of flooding. I am honestly ready to build an ark.

Our attempts to close the pool for the winter have been fruitless since it is in constant need of draining from the inches and inches of rain falling. Several of these attempts have resulted in Harley falling face first into the water. Never fear, she holds her breath, keeps her eyes open, and it is really cute watching her swim underwater before she gets rescued. Although, the last fall into pool water hovering at a chilly 60 degrees, was less than a pleasant experience. We made it up to her by letting her pass her time doing one of her very favorite things, back floating in the hot tub. Of course, it was raining and she had to keep her eyes closed during most of her relaxation time.

ZUMBA!!

2011-09-12T21:06:00.002-04:00

I am the worst dancer in the history of the world. I make Bill Cosby look like Fred Astaire. As a little girl my parents put me in dance classes like most good parents do for their little girls. I was consistently the worst dancer on the stage. I can vividly remember wearing a yellow monstrosity covered in sequins and dancing to Michael Jackson's Beat It! I looked into the crowd and saw terror in the eyes of the spectators. Although confused at the time I have come to understand why they were afraid. Sometimes my flailing spastic gyrations actually caused physical harm to the other dancers. I was always two or ten beats behind the music. It was sad and must have been absolutely humiliating for my family. They tried their best to be positive but looking back they certainly didn't encourage a dance career.

When our Relief Society decided to learn how to ZUMBA for one of our activities back in May, I was prepared for further embarrassment and possibly injury. BUT, it was so much fun. I even managed to convince myself that the other ladies weren't laughing at my lack of coordination because they were too busy focusing on the instructor. Just in case you don't know what ZUMBA is here is an explanation straight out of WIKEPEDIA. Zumba is a Latin-inspired dance fitness program created by dancer and choreographer Alberto "Beto" Perez in Colombia during the 1990s. Zumba involves dance and aerobic elements. Zumba's choreography incorporates hip-hop, samba, salsa, merengue, mambo, martial arts, and some Bollywood and belly dance moves. Squats and lunges are also included.
The class moves incredibly fast with little instruction. Essentially, a Latin blooded teacher with tons of rythym dances and you try to follow. Our Zumba instructor kindly agreed to teach us for free every Saturday thoughout the summer. It was incredible. I hate working out but I actually had so much fun doing this exercise. In a one hour Zumba class you can burn more than 1200 calories. I will take that over running 6 miles any day. Alas, summer is over and with it went my free Zumba. Then I found Zumba for the Wii. I was skeptical at first, but I ordered it anyway. It arrived Saturday and it was worth every penny. If you want a great and fun workout in the privacy of your own home, you have to buy this game. It is AMAZING. Since I got it I actually think I am turning LATINA. Watch out Shakira, these hips don't lie!!!

10 Years Later

2011-09-11T19:36:00.001-04:00

This morning I was watching Atley play with his New York City building blocks. As he played I watched him take one of his toy airplanes and fly it into one of the Twin Towers. My first reaction was to get really angry, but then I saw the pained expression on his face and the tears in his innocent eyes. First, I thought I should really keep this kid from watching the news, but more importantly I realized how the events of that day impacted all Americans even those yet to be born. Something was taken from each of us.

I was teaching geography to 9th graders in Heber City, Utah on September 11th. I was watching the Today Show as I prepared for my homeroom kids to arrive. I looked up from my lesson plans when I heard breaking news of a plane crashing into the World Trade Center. The news was still on when my students entered the classroom. They had only been in their seats for a few minutes, eyes anxiously glued to the TV, watching coverage of what we thought was a horrific plane crash. But then the second plane hit the second tower. Even at 15 years old, they knew that this was something much bigger than just a plane crash. A chubby boy named Jeff stood up and said, "Holy shit! I think we are under attack!" Jeff is now a teacher himself mostly working overseas and teaching kids English. The principal came over the intercom requesting that all students remain in homeroom. These 33 kids were with me most of the day as we watched the events unfold. I did my best to answer their questions and keep my composure, but it was tough. A girl named Robin had a father working in NYC that morning. They were unable to reach him on his cell phone and her mother eventually checked her out of school so that they could be together while waiting for news. My students decided to pray for her dad. He was fine. But, nothing would ever be the same. Those kids are now 25. I am in contact with a few of them and I know that several joined the military to fight for their country because of the events they watched with me that day.

My own children have been to Ground Zero. They have been to the Pentagon. There is a tangible mix of overwhelming emotions when you visit these places. A palpable reverence. Even as young children, my usually rambunctious boys were somber. As a family we will never forget what happened that day, the terror, the pain, the disbelief, and most importantly the bravery of the first responders and the heroes on that plane in a Pennsylvania field. The way that America came together in such a remarkable way was unprecedented. When my classroom of students and I heard that a third plane had hit the pentagon, I thought we were finished. I felt certain this would destroy us. I underestimated the American Spirit and I am so thankful that I did!

God Bless America!

Busy Weekend

2011-09-09T13:25:00.005-04:00

Grandpa and Grandma Butler came to visit Labor Day weekend and as usual we kept them busy or maybe they kept us busy, I am not sure which! They flew in Friday evening and after a bite to eat in Alexandria we headed to the National Mall. First, stop the breathtaking Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.

This monument is brand new, just opening at the end of August. It is a must see for everyone visiting the area. Along our trek we discovered the FDR Memorial which might be the most underrated of all of D.C.'s landmarks. The memorial is set in chronological order, beginning with FDR's first term in office in 1933, the height of the great depression, and moves through WWII and his last day's in office in 1945. There are waterfalls and amazing statuary, plus lots of information about one of the most difficult times in American history. Visiting at night was also a fun experience. I am excited to see what I missed when I visit again in the daylight.

Saturday we went to Annapolis to visit the Naval Academy and the quaintness that is downtown Annapolis Maryland. We only had one minor incident when Scott set off the alarms at the Alumni House and we were detained by MP's. Scott's name is officially on record with the U.S. Navy. So much for Atley's appointment to the academy. The Naval Academy is very picturesque. Established in 1845 it is full of grand old buildings plus the Navy boys clad in those white uniforms bringing back happy memories of Tom Cruise in Top Gun were pretty picturesque too.

Downtown Annapolis is a bustling waterfront town. Watching the sailboats and the luxurious yachts is always lots of fun.

Of course we had to hurry back for the BYU game, where we squeaked out a victory. Sunday was all about church and perhaps the boys last dip in the pool this season. Monday we went to the Newseum. This museum has only been open for a couple of years and unlike the Smithsonian Museums it comes with a price tag. After visiting, I think it is well worth the admission. It is full of history. Afterall, news becomes our history. There are theatres, including a fun 4D film that the kids thought was a riot. Part of the Berlin Wall is within the museum and the Death Towers from which soldiers were authorized to shoot and kill any trying to climb the walls.

There is an observatory at the top with great views of the city.

There are also lots of obscure objects and images. You can stand next to life size versions of famous criminals like Al Capone or people like J. Edgar Hoover and see how you measure up. The collection of Pulitzer Prize winning photographs will have you in tears after only a few glances. By the way, this is the only museum I have ever been in with tissue boxes strategically placed throughout the exhibits. You can visit the rustic cabin/shack where the unibomber hid out in the woods. You can even see the reason we have to take off our shoes every time we fly on an airplane- the shoe bombers actual shoes.

This is the ladder the kidnapper of the Lindburgh baby used to snatch the infant from his home and the electric chair they used to fry the jerk.

There are touching memoirs of Hurricane Katrina and with the 10th anniversary of 9/11 looming the artifacts and first-hand accounts of that horrific day were truly heart-wrenching. In the pictures below you can see one of the antennae that was on top of the first tower. You can touch pieces of the pentagon rubble. On display are parts of the engines of the American Airlines flight that hit the second tower. There are walls and walls of newspaper headlines from the day after the attack, even the passports of the terrorists that were later recovered in the debris.

As annoying as the media often is, I realized how truly blessed we are to enjoy freedom of speech and freedom of the press. I also realized how few countries enjoy this same privilege. Below is a picture I took of a world map present at the Newseum. Countries in green have free press, yellow are partly free, and red countries have no freedom of the press. In other words, in all but the green countries the government is controlling what its citizens can learn and write about the world around them.

Perhaps the best part of the day was when Atley and Nash were able to create their own news broadcasts. Atley chose to report on Hurricane Katrina. He read the teleprompter and I think he made an adorable weather man, kind of a super-skinny white version of Al Roker. Nash, who can't read, wanted to do a sports broadcast about his favorite team the Washington Redskins, too bad they only had a Washington Wizards Green Screen. He totally winged his broadcast and we thought it was hilarious. Check out our budding journalists in the video links below! Make sure you turn off the blog music by hitting the pause button at the bottom of the blog so you can get the full effect of these compelling broadcasts.

Back to School Wreath & Nash

2011-09-08T14:13:00.000-04:00

I saw a picture of a ruler wreath on this SITE and thought it was absolutely adorable. I tried to wing it when I made my own, but I probably should have followed her instructions, instead of just doing what I thought she did. Anyway, I like it and if you want instructions visit the link above.

In other news, Nash started preschool today and was very excited to be with his friends. Hopefully, his mischievous nature will not get him into too much trouble this year.

The 2nd Grader

2011-09-06T14:09:00.001-04:00

Atley's First Day of 2nd Grade!

He was so proud of his Levi jacket. He told me it made him feel like a 17 year old!

The boys waiting for the bus!

Harley blows Atley kisses goodbye!

Circle Time Mats

2011-08-30T05:57:00.001-04:00

There are six of us who are participating in a preschool coop this year for our 4 year olds. In preparation , I was given the task to create something that the kids could sit on during circle/story time. I finally decided to use place mats which are the perfect size for little buns. I picked them up at IKEA for $1.49 and then attached their names. I ironed HEAT 'n BOND to the back of my fabric, peeled off the paper and then ironed them onto the placemats. Now each child has a special spot just for him or her. Don't you think these would be cute around the dinner table too?

Hurricane Irene

2011-08-29T20:36:00.003-04:00

Mean Irene was relatively nice when she visited our house. Because we were on the left side of the hurricane we were just attacked with tons of rain and occasional gusts of very powerful wind. The right side of the hurricane is where there is the most trouble, including tornadoes, thunderstorms, and increased flooding. Yeah, we know a lot. We have become very well-versed in our natural disasters lately. The rain and wind began about noon on Saturday and was completely gone by noon on Sunday. We passed the time in the basement, where Atley was a nervous wreck and drove everyone crazy with his questions and anxiety. He kept saying, "I've never felt more alive." The next morning we found a very dirty pool and about half-a-million sticks and small limbs in our yard, but no damage.

We went for a ride to see how everyone else held up in the storm. One of our neighbors had two large trees uprooted, one of which was lying in the road blocking one lane of the only entrance into our neighborhood.

Although we only lost power for about 30 seconds, there were many stoplights out all over town.

Of course, there was also a reporter on every corner.

We tried to make the most of our situation by burning a few of our sticks roasting wieners in the back yard.

Stay tuned next week where we expect pestilence and famine.

Trash to Treasure

2011-08-25T14:27:00.002-04:00

About two months ago at a neighborhood yard sale I bought an IKEA coffee table for $5. It had a light wood stain and not only looked cheap but also didn't really go with the rest of my house. I wanted to do something to give it new life but couldn't decide what, so we used it anyway to eat dinner and to put our feet up.

Then, another neighbor started remodeling. Truth be told, when a big dumpster gets delivered to anyone in our neighborhood I get a little thrill of excitement. I seriously might be mentally ill. Soon I noticed an interior door lying on the top of that dumpster and under the cover of night we went dumpster diving. Scott kept asking, "Why are we doing this?" I had no answers, but I knew I wanted the door for something. It sat in our garage for a few weeks until I had an epiphany-Use the door to prettify the coffee table.

1. The door was too long so I sawed off the bottom with a circular saw.

2. I painted the door blue along with the legs and sides of the IKEA table.

3. After it dried I distressed it just a little with sand paper.

4. We couldn't find the door knob in the dumpster so I went to the local hardware store and bought a crystal looking and very brassy knob.

5. I spray painted the ugly gold with an antique rust spray and attached it along with the hinges to the door.

6. Finally, I screwed it onto the coffee table.

7. Total price $11.93

With the bottom of the door I had to saw off I made this Love At Home Planter, by painting it blue, adding the phrase and finally putting greenery in the hollowed out door bottom.

Scott uses miles and miles of electrical wire at work and so he always has these giant spools rolling around in the back of his truck. I thought they would make perfect candle stands so with a little spray paint that is what they became.

Earthquake Story

2011-08-25T09:34:00.000-04:00

Okay, we have been ridiculed and demeaned over the last two days about our OVERreaction to the earthquake. So, before I tell our story you need to realize that when you hear a loud rumbling and the earth starts shaking in D.C. your first reaction is not earthquake. The alternative is sometimes even more terrifying. I also want all of you west coast earthquake experts to observe us over the next few days as we sit idly by in our homes while Hurricane Irene pummels us. I wonder what your reaction would be in a hurricane. I am guessing similar to our reaction to our baby earthquake. That being said here is our somewhat hilarious story.

By chance, on the afternoon of August 23rd we ended up about 20 minutes from home at my friend Jill's house. We were sitting in the living room watching the kids play. All the kids except Atley who was in the bathroom taking care of business. Suddenly, we heard a low rumble that was mildly shaking the windows. I looked at my friend and said, "What is that sound?" Her reply, "I think it is just a truck going by." Afterall, they do live near a busy street. Quickly the sound increased as did the intensity of the shaking. Jill and I looked at each other and yelled, "EARTHQUAKE!" at the same time. Instinctively we found ourselves on the floor of the living room with all the children rushing towards us. I will never forget the look on Atley's face as he ran to us from the bathroom-white as a ghost and still trying to pull up his pants. One of the kids yelled, "I don't want to die." I heard Atley say, "Is this gonna be like Haiti all over again?" Harley, well, she just giggled incessantly. Like mother birds with our babies wrapped around us in our nest, Jill said a prayer. Impressive right? She thinks to pray while my first instinct was to profane! We heard breaking glass and things crashing throughout the house. I began pulling the cushions off the couch thinking maybe we should try to get under them. About the time I pulled off the last cushion the shaking stopped. After we were sure it was over and that it wasn't coming back the kids went on a scouting mission to investigate the damage. Boxes of Lego's fell off of a shelf as did a few nicknack's, books, a cup of water on a night stand and a dish of change. Nothing major but for us first time earthquakers a little unnerving. We tried to call the husbands who work together. Jill was able to reach her husband, but I couldn't get through to Scott for a few hours. He had been evacuated from the museum where he was working. He was in the basement working on a computer console when the unit started shaking. He said he thought it was one of his guys shaking it to irritate him until he heard things falling and people running in the hall. Although, he said he wasn't terrified, he definitely felt the desire to get out of that basement quickly before he had the entire American History Museum on top of him. Traffic was horrendous for several hours as the entire city made an exodus to the suburbs. I stayed at Jill's until the rush died down and we watched the kids have an occasional earthquake drill. They even built a panic room, full of pillows and blankets.

That is our story, more of an adventure than anything else and maybe a lesson on what to do next time. I love this picture from a local blogger, who was soliciting help for the victims of the D.C. Earthquake of 2011. Just look at the clean up we are left to face all while the world focuses on such minor issues as Libya and unemployment.

Beachy Keen!

2011-08-20T11:11:00.000-04:00

Before we left for the beach I said a little prayer that we would have a memorable day, perhaps I should have rephrased my prayer. About 40 minutes into our drive Nash threw up all over the van. Too late to turn back! We suffered with the smell of vomit and the nervous anticipation of more to come for two more hours before we arrived. We had a great three hours on the beach before they made us leave because of impending thunderstorms. After some time on the boardwalk, we drove home in the most horrendous rain I have ever seen. We have to cross Bay Bridge in Annapolis to get home. Bay Bridge is considered the 3rd scariest bridge in the world. I am pretty sure that last night it was the scariest bridge in the world with the flashes of lightning and buckets of rain. Needless to say it was a memorable day.

Nash felt better as soon as he caught a glimpse of the ocean and as soon as Harley got over calling the sand, "NATY," (a.k.a. nasty), she was in love with the beach. I thought about editing away her black eye and bruises before posting but that just isn't Harley. She is a rough and tumble little girl, who will have no problem holding her own with the big brothers.

Joseph Smith & The Plates of Gold

2011-08-16T16:09:00.000-04:00

Last week for Family Home Evening we went to a special screening of a new movie about Joseph Smith. Usually movies like this open up in Utah and then eventually trickle out to the rest of the United States, but fortunately for us, the producer decided to release this film opposite that trend. I highly recommend it to any one of our faith and even those who are not. The actor playing Joseph was there and answered questions at the end which was also really interesting. Even the children were well-behaved throughout the nearly 3 hour event. Not that good behavior is surprising! Just look at those angelic faces. No mischief on their minds.

Making Goals & Reaching Some of Them!

2011-08-15T20:58:00.002-04:00

We had three very important goals this summer:

1. Both boys should learn to swim...

Done!

2. Nash needed to learn to ride his bike without training wheels...

Mission accomplished and yes, he even does tricks!

3. We wanted Harley to survive the summer with little damage. Judging from the bruises on her face sustained from a tumble down the stairs and a bike wreck with mommy, we are learning to be content with only accomplishing 2 of our 3 goals.

I am sorry baby, but remember what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. Although I doubt you need any extra advice on being tough with Atley and Nash for brothers.

Death by Berry

2011-08-09T15:04:00.001-04:00

Today we went berry picking at Butler's Orchard in Maryland. I am sure that we, Harley mostly, consumed her body weight in raspberries and blackberries. But, so far her tummy seems to be holding up okay. I can't wait to make my grandma's famous jam-that is if the berries last long enough for me to make it. Even if you are a novice canner, this jam is so easy to make and honestly, the yummiest you will ever taste. You can search my blog for the recipe if you so desire!!

Every time I looked she was picking and shoving more in her mouth.

Hair Bow Wreath

2011-08-04T15:48:00.000-04:00

Harley is getting quite a collection of hair bows and I desperately needed someplace to put them all. This wreath is what I came up with to display her "PRETTY's" as we call them.

I just bent a wire coat hangar into a circle and folded the hook over like so...

I added some ribbon to the top of the hangar and then clipped on her bows.

We're Back...

2011-08-03T09:42:00.001-04:00

and we had a great time in Colorado. I took at list 7 million pictures so blogging about the trip seems a daunting task, but somehow I think I am up to the challenge. I am going to divide into categories for organizational purposes.

TRAVELING

WATER

CRITTERS

(chickens, snakes, gators, skunks, fish, worms, turtles, & pigs)

Greased pig gets captured. Thanks goodness he was too slippery for the boys. I didn't know how we would get it back on the plane.

Colorado Gators

Harley showing off her worm. She swallowed it next.

Disposing of the stinky skunk.

CELEBRATION

The Races!

Cousin Cole & Atley lost their belt in the Three-Legged Race

Nash & cousin Alyssa won the egg toss.

Watching Atley on the float during the Manassa parade.

MOUNTAINS

PRECIOUS

We're OFF!

2011-07-11T06:10:00.002-04:00

Here we go on our annual pilgrimage to Colorado! See you in August and wish me luck as I try to wrangle my three little angels through the friendly skies.

My Children are Pigs

2011-07-10T20:21:00.000-04:00

Everyday! Every single day I sweep up something that looks like this...

from my kitchen floor. That's right, enough food flung on the floor to feed a homeless man for a week. Trust, me this is an average sized pile. I have swept some that were much bigger. What is up with my children? Are they all this way or are mine especially disgusting? Admittedly, I used to sweep after every meal and/or snack. That was way too much work. So now I save it all until the end of the day, but still that's a lot of nastiness. I was thinking of pouring milk on top of this mess and handing them all a spoon. As I sweep the words of my elementary principal are almost always ringing in my ears, "There are children starving in Africa!" Yup, and my wasteful little Americans drop at least $2 worth of groceries from their plates during each meal.

Pillowcase Dress

2011-07-06T18:06:00.006-04:00

A few months ago my grandma sent us a package and one of the gifts was wrapped up in this old pillowcase. I loved the vintage look of the fabric and the lace along the bottom. Today I made a dress for Harley from Grandma's pillowcase. Hopefully, she didn't want it back.

My sewing machine was not working so I decided to sew it by hand. If my machine had been working it probably would have taken less than 30 minutes, by hand it was more like 3 hours.

If you want instructions about how I made this dress read more below!

First I found a dress that currently fit Harley. I laid it on my pillow case and trimmed the pillow case about 2 inches above the dress to allow for folding and sewing.

Next, I folded the pillow case in half and moved my dress all the way to the top of the case. Then, I traced the arm holes with a pencil and trimmed...

like so.

Turning the pillow case inside out fold over the fabric around both arm holes twice and iron flat. Then pin and hem...

like so.

Fold the top of the case over twice and pin as pictured above. Then stitch along the bottom. You are making a casing, so make sure you are stitching close to the bottom and that your fold is at least an inch from the top.

Using a safety pin thread a ribbon through the front casing and the back casing and tie in bows.

You're finished!

Happy 4th!

2011-07-05T11:51:00.001-04:00

We had a jam-packed 4th of July weekend. It all started Friday night when the family camped out on the trampoline. I only lasted until midnight. Scott came in about 5AM, Nash about 5:30, and Atley 6:15. Atley was convinced he was the only one who actually slept outside so he has been puffed up like a peacock all weekend over his bravery. Saturday we had our church breakfast and program at a local park. Harley was introduced to donuts and will most likely never be the same.

Sunday we decorated the boys bikes for the neighborhood parade which began bright and early Monday morning. The parade was followed by a neighborhood barbecue and games including a moon bounce.

Then we had a birthday party in the park and even more yummy barbecue. The rest of the afternoon was spent swimming at our house with some great friends. Of course more food was involved, including another one of Harley's favorites--watermelon.

Then all of us walked to the fireworks, which started late due to technical difficulties. Apparently someone must have forgotten the matches. We spent a long time waiting but it was worth the wait. Everyone was exhausted and of course I completely snapped...

more pictures.

We got home around midnight but still had our own fireworks to light.

It was a 4th we will never forget and possibly never recover from!

Ruffle Dress

2011-07-03T20:41:00.008-04:00

I have been longing for some ruffle fabric for ages but it is super expensive. If you haven't heard of this stuff here is your introduction. It is a stretchy fabric that comes pre-ruffled. It really is fabulous and when we were in New York I found some in the Fashion District for only $3 per yard. It is usually at least $15 per yard. As you can imagine, I was ecstatic. Unfortunately, I am kicking myself now for not buying more than 3 yards. I whipped up a dress which also doubles as a long skirt. The process was very experimental so I didn't take pictures. It ended up being really simple. Trust me, I don't do anything too complicated.

Step 1: Wrap the fabric around you to figure out how much fabric you will need. It took about a yard of fabric for the dress above. Allow a couple of inches for a seam allowance and cut your desired length.

Step 2: Fold the fabric in half, right sides together, and sew together creating a long tube

Step 3: Leaving the fabric inside out, fold the top of your fabric tube over about an inch and sew to create a casing for your elastic. Remember to leave an opening to thread your elastic.

Step 4: Your elastic should be about half of whatever you measure around. In other words, half the length of the fabric you cut. Using a safety pin thread the elastic through the casing. Use a zigzag stitch to sew the elastic together and then close your casing.

Step 5: Cut a long strip to tie around your middle or just wear it as a skirt. No hemming necessary!

Not So Bummer Summer

2011-06-30T10:27:00.004-04:00

A few days before school got out Atley and I went on a date to Judy Moody's Not So Bummer Summer. Of course when we got home we had to make a list to make sure our summer was not a bummer.

Here is our Not So Bummer Summer To Do List:

Go to a Washington National's Baseball Game

Find the Potomac on the trail by our house

Have a campout in the backyard

Visit Luray Caverns

Teach Nash to Ride his bike without training wheels

Swim everyday

Go to the beach twice

Complete the Library's Summer Reading Program

See Cars 2 & Mr. Popper's Penguins

Visit at least 3 different parks

Complete the Children's Friend Summer Reading Program

Go to a Water Park

Watch Movie's on the Potomac at National Harbor

Go to a Spray Park

Visit the Children's Museum in Baltimore or Norfolk

Go to Colorado

Visit the Bureau of Engraving & Printing

Visit Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

Go to the Smithsonian Culture Festival

Go to Antietam

HAVE FUN!

We have finished a few of the items on our list and we have even done some things we hadn't planned. For example, yesterday we crossed the Spray Park off of our list! This activity was fun for some and more of a bummer for others.