Snippity Doodah!

Jolie's hair was sort of a HOT MESS so we took her to get a hair cut. She likes to suck on her fingers and twirl her hair at the same time, and she often gets her fingers wound up too tightly in her hair and rips out big chunks. Needless to say, her hair wasn't exactly even. It was much longer and thicker on the side she doesn't twirl. I always kept it in ponytails, but they were totally uneven. Anyways, it was time to cut her hair. She sat so still. It only took about 5 minutes. Oh, how I wish we lived near Ann. I wanted a cute, stacked cut, but she doesn't have a lot of hair, and it's pretty thin and uneven, so it didn't end up with a lot of shape, but it is sooo much better, and she looks like such a big girl!

Wheezer

About a week and a half ago, David took Aidan to Carden Children's Hospital's ER because he had been having difficulty breathing through the night. They admitted him and he was there for 2 days. It turns out he had suffered an Asthma attack. He hadn't ever been diagnosed with Asthma, so we weren't prepared for it. He was such a little trooper. He didn't like getting the IV, but he was very cooperative and did whatever he was asked. He even learned how to swallow a pill! He liked being waited on hand and foot and having control of the remote. He also liked peeing in the little handheld urinals. He didn't like having to stay in bed because he was tethered to cords and machines, but he made up for it as soon as he got home, running around like a mad man, jumping over couches etc. Really smart for a kid who had just gotten out of the hospital, huh? He had quite the case of "Roid Rage" from all the steroids he had to take. He is usually a pretty emotional little guy anyways, but it was ridiculous! He's doing much better now. We were bombarded with information at the hospital - movies, reading material etc., so now we feel much more prepared should it ever happen again. It was scary! I had never had any experience with Asthma, and I didn't know how serious it can be, but now that we know Aidan has it we can hopefully modify our home to help prevent this from happening again. Our dog might have to go.

When Life Gives You Lemons...

Make Lemonade!!!

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1cup sugar

Fill to 2 quart line with water

I love living in a place where you can just go outside and pick a fresh lemon right off the tree! Look at the size of that sucker!

The Monster Mash

I saw this on my cousin's blog and just HAD to copy it! Brooke, I hope you don't mind!

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Bobble-head no more!

Aidan's head is a little "larger than average". Okay, so his noggin is huge, but he needs a BIG head to engulf his BIG brain, right? On top of having an enormous melon, he has a mop of THICK, voluminous hair to go along with it. Together, they create a sort of "bobble head" look on this little guy. David usually gives the boys their haircuts, but I've been known to give them an occasional hack-job. Ethan has learned from experience NOT to let me near his head with the clippers. Aidan, on the other hand, will do just about anything when bribed with a little computer time.

It didn't turn out too badly this time. Thank goodness we're going to visit Ann this weekend so she can help blend it a little better. It couldn't have gotten any worse than it already was. At least there wasn't anything living in it! This kid can GROW some hair!

I got a little carried away with the #1 guard. We were missing a few attachments, so it skips from a #6 to a #4 to a #2, and then just a whole lotta #1!

Sweet Egyptian dance! He's dancing because he's so excited to get a haircut!

Jolie's Got BLING!

We finally got Jolie's ears pierced! I know, she's only two, so I can't really say "finally", but it is a decision I have been wrestling with for a while. When ever I would see a little girl with earrings, I would want to do it, but I didn't want to put Jolie through unnecessary pain. The deciding factor was when Jolie was trying to put my earrings in her ears and she put them IN her ears. I don't want to have to keep fishing my earrings out of her wax-infested orifices, not to mention the damage it could do to her. So in an effort to avoid a trip to the emergency room, I took her to Claire's and they did the deed. We got her some little "diamond" studs, so now Jolie's got BLING! She sat so still while the ladies prepped her ears, sterilizing them and drawing on the little dots. She really wanted to get earrings, she just didn't know it was going to hurt. She only cried for a couple of minutes. They gave her a sucker, and we got some ice cream on the way home. She loves her new earrings! When ever she catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror she tilts her little head to the side, reaches up to touch her earrings, and smiles. Hopefully now that she has her own earrings, it will prevent her from sticking mine in her ears.

On to the Next Chapter...

She's been a good crib.

She has weathered the elements ... soggy diapers, leaky bottles, night terrors.

She has been used for many things ... her railings as chew toys, her mattress and springs as a trampoline, her undercarriage as a favorite hiding place.

She has been assembled over and over, through our several moves, each time emerging as strong as the day we pulled her out of that big, cardboard box.

But most importantly, she has provided a soft, warm, safe place for my children to rest their heads.

Now the time has come for us to go our separate ways.

She's a simple gal, nothing fancy, but she's solid.

She's still got some good years left in her.

There will be other babies, but mine were her first.

(If any one needs a crib, she's yours for the taking.)

Working Girl!

I started a new job as a receptionist at a dental office! I've been working there for two weeks and I love it! I thought it would be a lot harder going back to work after being a stay at home mom for the past twelve years, but everything has just worked out so perfectly that the transition has been a pretty easy one. I'm working 4 days a week with Wednesdays off. David was able to re-arrange his work schedule so he has Mondays and Tuesdays off, so our two younger kids only have to go to daycare on Thursdays and Fridays. Our two older kids are in school all day. I was able to find an awesome babysitter about a mile away from our house. The kids love it. My office is about 5 minutes away from my house. They are so fun and laid back there. My sister-in-law, Melissa, works there and helped me get the job. It has been so fun working with her and the other staff members. I get to wear scrubs, so I don't have to worry about buying a new wardrobe. But the best part is we get FREE dental care!!! And............ORTHODONTIA!!!!! That's worth it right there with my family's teeth! In today's economy I am just so grateful to have found a job at all, let alone one that is SO AWESOME!!! Now I won't have to resort to plan B: working the corner of Brown and Stapley.

2% Other

At our house we eat a lot of hot dogs. I mean, who doesn't like a good wiener, right? They're quick and easy to make, there is a wide variety of toppings you can put on them (sauerkraut is my favorite), you can eat them with one hand, and my picky, younger kids love them. We've always got a freezer full of them. Anyways, Avery just HAD to inform me that the FDA only requires hot dog makers to use 98% beef, pork, or chicken (whatever the hot dog is made out of) in their hot dogs, and that the other 2% can pretty much be whatever else falls into the mix. i.e. insects, rodent droppings, rodents themselves etc. I had always heard that hot dogs were made out of "lips and bumholes", or just the leftover parts of the animals, and that never stopped me from eating them, so I doubt this will either, but at least now I know that if I bite into something crunchy, it might just be a cockroach leg, or a mouse turd. Mmmmmm, protein!

"Most Horriblest Mother!"

This past Sunday I was taking a little afternoon nap, which I NEVER get to do, when Aidan woke me up asking me if I would "get him on the computer." Half asleep, and annoyed that he awoke me from my precious slumber, I replied something like, "not right now" or "have Avery do it", to which his reply was, "You're the most horriblest mother!" I've been called a lot of things, but I can't say that I've exactly heard that one before. So, now I hold the title of "Most Horriblest Mother!" Shouldn't I at least get a sash or tiara?

One Year Older and Wiser Too!

Yesterday we celebrated David's thirty-second birthday! Yep, the big 3-2! He doesn't look a day over twenty-five! I can't say enough great things about this guy, and if you know him very well, I don't have to. His face in this picture says it all. David is the first one to drop whatever he's doing to help you out, and does so HAPPILY! He works harder than anyone I know. He plays harder too. He is a big kid and is so funny and laid back. He has the best personality! He can be sooo inappropriate sometimes and I love it! I usually act like he is embarrassing me, but really, I think he's hilarious and I "egg" him on most of the time. It is so hard to stay mad at him - all he has to do is give me THAT look and my heart melts! I can't wait for him to come home from work every day just so I can snuggle him. He has big, strong arms, and his shoulders... seriously - you should watch him swim! The Summer I met him, when I was just sixteen years old, we went swimming together and after that, I was HAD! He is so confident, yet so humble at the same time. I just love him so much, I can't STAND it! I have loved learning and growing right along side him for almost half of his life. He is my best friend, and I'm so happy he was born! Happy birthday David Burk!

Alien Flower in my Backyard!

Have you ever seen anything like this? I feel like I'm in the sequel to "Little Shop of Horrors"! My backyard neighbors have this flowering vine that is growing over the wall, and THIS is what grows on it! I've never seen anything like it! It's so cool! It looks like something from outer space! The yellow things sprouting out of the middle look like they're going to reach out and GRAB you! Then there are the little soft, fuzzy, feather-like petals? If anyone knows what it's called, let me know. I guess I could look it up. I'll just call it Audrey II for now. If I wind up missing, you know where to look!

Okay, so I easily found it on the internet! It is the Passion Flower! It accompanies the passion fruit! I think I'll try to harvest some seeds from it and grow them myself.

Back to school 2009

Avery and Ethan went back to school on Wednesday! They're happy to have somewhere to go and to be back with their friends - old and new, although they still complain about how much they HATE it.

Avery is in 7th grade this year. Yes, JR. HIGH!!! We went to her orientation on Monday. We walked around the campus and found all of her classes. We also found her locker which happened to be on the TOP row. She is miniature, and she could hardly reach it. Seriously, she could barely see the numbers on the dial to do the combination. I had to go with her on the first day of school to get it changed. She really is tiny! I saw a bigger girl (I'm assuming she was in 9th grade) pointing at Avery and commenting to her friends something along the lines of, "Oh my gosh, look at the little seventh grader! How cute!" At first she acted all embarrassed to have her mom with her on the first day of Jr. High, but when it came time for me to leave, she wanted me to walk her to her first class. Spread your wings little birdie and FLY! She only got lost once, and ended up having a great first day!

Ethan is in fifth grade this year. We happened to miss his "meet the teacher", so he didn't know where his classroom was. He was pretty nervous, so I walked him to school and helped him find his classroom. As soon as he saw some of his friends from last year, he was good to go. He had a good first couple of days as well, and he's already asking to play the french horn. Where does the time go? You want your kids to grow and learn and become independent, but it always feels so good to know that they DO still need their mommy sometimes. I can't wait to see what this new school year has in store for these two. I'm sure it will be FABULOUS because these kids are AMAZING!!!

Camp Lomia here she comes!

Avery was able to go to Young Womens camp this year because she just turned TWELVE!!! She had such a great time and was really able to bond with the other girls in our ward. She has sort of had a hard time with this last move, and has really tried to hold on to her friends out in Queen Creek and hadn't really given the girls out here a chance, so it was so great for her to go up to camp and get to know everyone better. I was also able to go up for three days, and it was a FABULOUS experience if I do say so myself! The theme this year was "In Tune". We learned that the spirit speaks to us all differently and how to recognize and be "in tune" with how he speaks to us individually. Going along with the theme, each ward chose a musical to plan their activities around. Our ward chose Mary Poppins! Our YW President, Cindy Allen, was Mary and the girls were all chimney sweeps. They did the "Step In Time" dance for the skit. They were so cute! They all got along so well, and there was absolutely NO girl drama! They were all so excited and involved. They had great attitudes which made their camp experience so wonderful! The ward and stake leaders put SO MUCH WORK into camp! Everything was AWESOME! I am so grateful Avery's first year at camp was such a great one! I am so grateful that she has such AMAZING women for her leaders, and I am so blessed to be able to work with them. She was able to come into Young Womens this last Sunday for the first time, and now we'll be able to go to Mutual on Wednesday nights together. How FUN and EXCITING!! She really is an AMAZING YOUNG WOMAN! I can't believe how quickly she's growing up!

Chim-chimminey, chim-chimminey, chim chim cheree, a sweep is as lucky, as lucky can be. Chim-chimminey, chim-chimminey, chim chim cheroo, good luck will rub off when I shakes hands with you. Well blow me a kiss, and that's lucky too!

Harris 1st ward - First year girls - Avery, Kater, Elena, Chelsea(YCL), Teghan, and Sunni

Flower the skunk - Instead of running away from the skunks, these girls chased after them, coaxing them with blackberries!

Avery and Elena - "Practically Perfect in Every Way!"

Our Playbill - someone in the stake painted these beautiful Playbills for each ward.


Avery and Kater - two spoonfuls of sugar!

Dutch-oven at the Carters!

One of our favorite places to visit in Utah is the "Carter Family Farm"! My cousin, Shareen, and her husband, Kevin, have a fun, little farm that we HAVE to go play at every time we're in Utah. This time they invited us over for some good ol' Dutch Oven cooking. Shareen ran a 1/2 marathon that morning, but was still her usual, energetic self. Kevin impressed us with his cooking skills preparing not just beef ribs, but also pork ribs and some yummy potatoes. There were chips and fruit salad, and they topped it off with ice cream cones! We sat around the fire pit until 11:00 while the kids went exploring with their headlamps on. After hearing a blood-curdling scream from Aidan (just because he didn't get to hold the flashlight), David went to investigate what was going on. In the mean time, Kevin had a brilliant idea... he snuck over, hid behind the haystack, and waited...and waited...until finally, when the moment was just right, "RAAAAAH!!" He jumped out at David, who screamed like a little school girl! Needless to say, David was NOT allowed to sit on the "MAN LOG" after that.

Kevin, the cullinary master!

What do you call cheese that isn't yours?

NOT-YO CHEESE! (Nacho cheese)


Mmmmmm! These ribs are finger-lickin' good!

Check out these cute, matching aprons I made for Shareen and her daughter, Hadlie. Hadlie LOVES horses, so I found her a cute fabric with horses on it, and I HAD to make Shar one to match. They're reversible!