Funniest Eclipse "preview" ever!!

 Here is the funniest video EVER of Eclipse - you have to watch it - even if its just to make fun of it!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHfyad6Jitk&feature=player_embedded

Hands are FULL!

I have decided I don't understand how little boys think...at ALL!!

Growing up with one brother I understood only the variety that my brother was.  But RAISING a little boy has introduced me to a TOTALLY different world.  As I type a giant green truck is racing around me and loud "BEEP BEEP"s are echoing in my ears.

Some of the choice reasons I am struggling this week with understanding little boys and their thoughts?
Where to begin?

I go into said little boy's room to find clothes on the floor were wet.  We had to leave right then for the doctor's office, but I managed to insert a little confrontation "Why are these clothes wet?" "I dont know" ..I pause to smell the evidence.  "Did you go potty on these clothes?"  And darn it, the answer was YES and we HAD to leave right then to go to the doctor's office.  In his defense I don't think it was done with malintent.  I think he was shivering without any clothes trying to decide what to wear...and the cold air just got to him.

I found our new kitchen cabinets had been indented in a massive big line down the drawer with a toy.  Thank you, my son!

Brian found a toy bin, WITH toys, that had a very unpleasant odor, and um...liquid.  Yes - the toys had been urinated on.  Brian carried the bin upstairs and outside.  After a 1 1/2 HOUR long time out (I know that may seem alarmingly long to most parents, but since we had confronted this issue months ago and it resurfaced...it was needed) we had ds go outside with a big bucket of soapy water and clean every toy and scrub it, and the bin.  He was out there 30 minutes.  I don't think *knock on wood* we will be dealing with that one again.  But if we do - he knows what he'll have to do!

There is always the milder things - like waking up his baby sister when his friends come over, and pusing sister down occasionally, and opening every tube of toothpaste we own (thanks to couponing, thats a LOT) and using every single one, getting into mom and dad's protein bars, opening up 10 and eating just bites of each one, and dropping them in toy bins - yeah there is stuff like that too.  *SIGH* - I don't know how you moms with multiple boys do it! This one keeps me on my toes!!

Brian's Jack Bauer moment

You would think that life as a high school anatomy teacher and boys bowling coach would render itself to a certain safety zone.  However, things can happen when you least expect them to...

Brian was downstate in O'Fallon Illinois at Boy Bowling STATE - yes they made it this year.  The boys and most of the parents drove down very excitedly at what could be a highlight in (many of them) their senior year.  At the hotel after the big day of the tournament - a full day of game after game after game...the unthinkable happened.

One of the fathers saw a drunk driver ram into their car in the hotel parking lot.  He had been inside with Brian and some of the other parents.  He ran outside to confront a man who was poised for a nice HIT AND RUN affair.  The father came toward the vehicle, and just as the drunk driver was in the process of turning the car to drive off, the father stuck his hand through the window and somehow grabbed the keys. 

Well, This guy was getting very riled up in his intoxicated state and tried to POUNCE on the father with a fury.  With curse works flying in this agitated state, Brian and two of the fathers pinned him up against the nearby hotel exterior wall.  Brian saw a huge knife in his jacket, and grabbed the knife from the man before it could be used against them. After they had the knife and the keys he got out of their grip, and then said to the father,

"Do you have good health insurance?"

The father looked up to see another knife he had extracted from his person, and had it hoisted above his head - ready to throw it right at the father's heart.

Luckily, the police had been called and just as the knife was about to be thrown, the policeman grabbed the knife from the man.

Brian explained what had happened with the two knives and how it was an attempted assault.  (He was actually holding the knife in his hand when the policeman drove up, which could have looked bad had there not been other witnesses)  The policeman, instead of pursuing that (even though he was now holding the drunk driver's knives in his possession) he began to perform a drunk driving test on him, having him take steps and what not. 

Brian and the other dads were incredulous that he wasn't being charged with attempted assault.  They watched for a moment, and the drunk driver looked up during his "test" to see the father was looking. He said roughly, "What are you looking at" and then DOVE at the father in the MIDDLE of the test. 

Finally, it was at THAT moment, that a 2nd and 3rd set of policeman immediately put him in one of the cars and handcuffed him.  The bowling boys, meanwhile, getting everything on camera from the balcony above on their cell phones.  This turned out to come in handy as the questioning of witnesses commenced.

So, in the words of Brian's principal - who is a huge black dude - "SO - YOU ARE A HERO."  And so he was!!

The MICE Fiasco

Yes - we have (hopefully now PAST tense) mice in our attic.  Yes, you remember correctly - our house is only 8 months old.

So one night I heard scratching and them fumbling around.  I FREAKED out.  We never had that kind of thing happen EVER since we've been married.  So I TRIED to wake the sleeping log (Brian) up.  I told him there was something in the attic.  I told him several times as the noises became more assaulting to my sanity.  It was literally 2 in the morning, and I was still curled in a fetal position, listening intently to the scratching, scurrying, and other noises I dared not envision in my mind.  Sleep fled from my mind.

My cute sleeping log, I mean husband, told me it was "JUST MY IMAGINATION"  and it was "JUST THE WIND COMING THROUGH THE VENTS- As IF!!

So, several nights later of these crazy noises, I actually was able to time waking up Brian, keeping him awake for 10 seconds, while the noise happened above our heads.

Then as I was cutting Brian's hair in our bathroom, he HEARD IT in full consciousness while I was changing settings on the razor.  AH HAH!  Now we were on the same page!

Luckily one of our friends who takes care of this stuff - pest control - came over and gave us his full expertise, to which we are eternally grateful.   He put some cool peanut butter poison that dehydrates the mouse and causes them to leave the house to look for water.  He saw evidence of mouse, tunnels in the blown insulation, droppings, and entry ways into the house. I was glad we had answers and some GREAT POISON down.

I wish that was the end of the story.  BUT ITS NOT....

So the next night, Brian was with his HS BOYS BOWLING TEAM at State Finals in St. Louis (crazy story for another post) and then ...

IT BEGAN.....

I heard the strangest animal noises of my LIFE and I began to wonder if a totally different animal was up there than I previously thought.  I heard almost human like exertion noises, sounding as if it were pushing something extrememly heavy across the attic...

followed by tapping noise...

Every once in awhile I would hear this strange whinnying noise - I FREAKED OUT!  I did not know mice made THAT noise.  I thought they only squeaked.

I began to doubt all I ever knew about mice.  Or maybe it was a opossum....or a racoon....or a squirrel...

I DIDN'T know.  It was a LONG night.  I literally prayed I would be able to sleep with freaky animal noises occurring right above my head.  I imaged with all the exertion noises I would hear, that it would chew through the ceiling or something.

The next day, I texted Brian a series of FREAKED OUT TEXTS about the horrible night it was.  And I was STILL hearing the noise.  At one point it even seemed like the noise was coming from the computer in our room..but then I looked above the computer at the ceiling and then realized it was coming from the area right ABOVE the  computer.  GREAT - it was only 5 feet away from me.  PERFECT.

I took a bath listening to the exertion noises, the tapping, and the occasional freaky whinnying.  It was a very NOT relaxing bath.  I again pictured crazy scenarios with these noises.  If that mice wouldn't eat those peanut butter things, or didn't DIE, maybe it was WAY bigger than previously thought!

Then the most EMBARRASING MOMENT OF MY LAST 12 MONTHS CAME:  I went to the computer to turn it on, and there before me was....

My daughter's BELLA SARA HORSE website was on the computer.  ONLY THE MONITOR HAD BEEN OFF AND THE VOLUME WAS UP , so I had been listening to BELLA SARA HORSE WEBSITE noises for the past 12 hours.

I was SOOOOO relieved, and also felt SO UTTERLY STUPID....but then relieved again...and the SO UTTERLY STUPID AGAIN...and then SOOOO relieved.

Happy ending - I have not heard a "mouse" since that night!  (OR A REAL MOUSE!)

UPDATE: NO CELIAC?!?!??! Pediatric Enterologist confirms....

So this debacle has taken more twists and turns than chutes and ladders!  After we thought we finally knew what was wrong with Kylie - fitting the description PERFECTLY for Celiac Disease, we got the lab results back.  NO celiac disease.

Meanwhile, we had her on the nutritional regimen - Heavy Duty Probiotics, Digestive Enzymes, Vit D3 - she was doing fantastic.  I monitored her very carefully.  She was putting on weight fantastically.  She gained 1  1/2 lbs in 6 weeks -which is VERY fast for her, being as active as she is, and considering it has taken her 4 -5 months to put on EACH lb for the past year.  I began to see her cheeks getting actually CHUBBY - it felt so rewarding...

THEN, something happened.  On the same day three things occurred.  I took her in for the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella immunization), I put her on almond milk for variety, and she ran out of probiotics.  We have had on her an alternate immunization schedule, where you get the M,the other M, and the R totally separate from each other - waiting a few weeks in between.  I wasn't even thinking about that ....but....

That night and for the next 5 days were ABSOLUTEY AWFUL.  After her digestive system was performing beautifully - everything normal - she suddenly had a very adverse digestive reaction.  Everything was pure liquid.  She would wake up totally covered from head to toe - she went through 10 outfits a day - everything smelled like rotting flesh. She would have BM after BM - all pure liquid.  I was sick to my stomach.  I felt that everything she had gained was being lost.  I felt totally helpless.  Luckily after 3 days of this, one of my friends who goes to the same dr. was able to get the probiotics for me.  After one day, she became normal again.  Her appetite not quite what it was, but at least, she became normalized again.

Meanwhile we were referred to a pediatic enterologist.  I was nervous they would slap her with a steroid PX or some kind of meaningless PX - but I was wrong.  After explaining the situation, and after he looked at her, and the celiac lab results...he concluded she had a digestive bacterial infection and that the probiotics have been taking care of her.

What I DIDNT mention was that after getting treated through NAET, she can actually have wheat, dairy, yeast, gluten WITHOUT having crazy BMs.  She actually had the labwork done after being treated for those.  So, all I cared about NOW was the pediatric enterologist opinion of things as it NOW stands.

So the prognosis - she is doing fine and looks healthy.  Keep her on the probiotics, feed her a LOT (which I always have -the other day she had 4 hotdogs in 2 minutes!), give her plenty of fats - avacados, good oils (which I HAVE been),   and if she has another "episode" then I will go back, otherwards, no need.

The bad news?  She had lost 1 lb 2 ounces after the crazy post-immunization debacle.  She undid most of her gaining, so it will be an uphill battle again to pack the lbs on her.  BUT, after technically a 4th opinion on her, and with her NAET progress, I feel like we are moving forward.  She has been doing beautifully the past 2 weeks, and had been the prior 7 weeks before that.  So she had a little set back - but NOW - let the weight GAIN begin!

the MONIQUE factor...its not pretty

Yes, we are a disturbed lot.  That is what too much Christmas vacation does to someone!  The white haired lady is my mom's mom - Grandma Wright.  LOVE HER TO PIECES.  She looks so Carol Channing in this picture of her.  One of my sisters, Susan, is in one of the shots.  And Tyler and His Cousin Abby are the boy and girl in these MONIQUE FACTOR shots.  Yes, too much time, so little to do....

I have NO more excuses now!! Here are some ACTUAL pics from Christmas - don't go into shock!

Yes! I am SO excited! I bought a Canon Rebel XT from one of my photographer friends since she is upgrading. Ironically, its the same camera my dad bought 3 years ago - the same in EVERY WAY! So we had fun talking shop, and he taught us everything he knows. Some of it is STILL over my head, but I have been reading the camera manual - something I usually try to avoid because it seems boring - upon my friend's suggestion.

And I have learned alot - but I can tell I have a LOT LOT LOT left to learn. I didn't get a lens CAP in the deal...or a camera CASE, or a UV filter thing....and the viewfinder is cracked...but I got a STINKING good deal so I don't mind those things. I have been admiring pics on my friends' blogs forever LUSTING after their technique and know how. Hopefully I will be able to join the ranks! Here is Christmas at my parents house :)

DIAGNOSED: Celiac Disease for our cute Kylie

So, this is a BIG contributer to the reason I feel like I am sort of drowning in my own life! BIG BREATH:

Kylie has Celiac Disease. We took her in for her 18 month appointment to a new Pediatrician. SO MUCH BETTER than the last pediatrician who made me feel that the reason Kylie wasn't gaining weight was because I was feeding her a "low fat diet" - and I needed to put butter and oil on everything she ate.

So THIS pediatrician was great - he listened to her history, what she was allergic to, symptoms, health concerns and told me it was CELIAC DISEASE.

What is CELIAC DISEASE? I was sort of familiar with it. When I got my AMA nutritional credits, they did have a VERY DRY speaker who addressed this. Sad to say, he was so dry I tended to nod off during his presentation.

But here is what it is:

Celiac disease is a digestive condition triggered by consumption of the protein gluten, which is found in bread, pasta, cookies, pizza crust and many other foods containing wheat, barley or rye. If you have celiac disease and eat foods containing gluten, an immune reaction occurs in your small intestine, causing damage to the surface of your small intestine and an inability to absorb certain nutrients.

Eventually, the decreased absorption of nutrients (malabsorption) that occurs with celiac disease can cause vitamin deficiencies that deprive your brain, peripheral nervous system, bones, liver and other organs of vital nourishment. This can lead to other illnesses and stunted growth in children.

So this is why Kylie is 18 months old and only 19 lbs. And get the runs whever she has wheat, gluten, or dairy.

She also has to get her thyroid checked.

So if you have been reading my blog in the past year you will know that I took Tyler to an NAET specialist (allergy elimination technique) to get rid of his allergy induced asthma. He is totally better, just can't have sugar yet.

At any rate, we took Kylie the next day to the NAET doctor who is FANTASTIC. She came up positive with neuroscensory muscle testing with CELIAC DISEASE, COLITIS and that the body was rejecting the process of producing GROWTH HORMONES.

So since this thing can lead to stunted development - physically, neurologically, physiologically, it is VERY good we are finding this out now.

She is on a VERY strict No gluten, yeast, wheat, dairy diet, and no canned foods. And she has to get on very concentrated probiotics, a digestive enzyme to eat away the mucus lining in her intestinal track/stomach, and D3 vitamin to start absorbing nutrients, and a growth hormone JUMP starter. If it sounds expensive, it IS.

But I am looking through the long range lens and getting my little cutie pie better. So far she is not affected mentally or with her motor skills. She is just VERY small in stature - still below "0" on the child tracking chart for weight. For height - she is like 10%.

So I feel lucky that we have the tools to reverse this thing - to treat the components creating the antibodies in her body through NAET, and then jumpstart her immune system, digestive track, and her growth hormones.

So while it seems like a pain, I really feel like I was prepared to handle this one, especially after Tyler.

RESURFACING FOR NEW MOON

Ok, I am resurfacing in my seemingly insanely busy life (I knew it would get this way once September hit!) to blog about going to see NEW MOON tonite.

Yes, I wanted to do the whole MIDNIGHT showing thing, but it did not work out with the other girls I am going with. We have been planning to go together for ONE YEAR!! Yes - and we also plan to go NEXT YEAR to Eclipse, which just got done filming 2 weeks ago.

And I did hear officially that the NEW MOON midnight showing ALONE brought in a little over 26 million, which is a record.

I have thoroughly enjoyed being a TWI-MOM as they call us. When I teach my fitness classes, at least 2 or 3 of the classes, we will work out to the twilight or New Moon soundtracks - then I have an excuse to see who the other twi-moms are!

I am a nerd, I know, but its FUN!! CANT WAIT TO SEE THE MOVIE - 10 o clock showing BABY!!

I AM SO IMPRESSED WITH MYSELF...

...I know, that is not something you admit about yourself. But as you can see from my last post, I have gotten into the whole coupon thing. AND, you might surmise that one of the reasons I have been poor to post is because I am going through what they call the "Coupon honeymoon."

Did you know there was such a thing? Well, it is true. This is what I did at MEIJER (like SuperTarget) the past two days:

14 Loaves of 100% Whole Wheat PEPPERIDGE FARMS Bread
75 Cans of soup: Cream of Chicken and Mushroom, Tomato and Chicken Noodle
12 AVACADOS
8 LBS of Honey Crisp Apples
1 Imitation Vanilla
1 Lindt Candy bar
1 container LIME JUICE

GRAND TOTAL: $11.65

Yes - I am pretty darn proud of that because its the ONLY way for me to do food storage. So w are set on bread for at least 2 months, Soup for the winter, Avacados for a week - GUACAMOLE anyone? And apples for 2 weeks - HONEY CRISP at that! YUM!

Anyway - if you break up my time into an hourly rate of what I had to do - it still was pretty darn good. If you go to Meier today - they still have the bread and soup deal :) Buy 5 cans of soup + PF bread and get $5 off next order. It rolls FOREVER. Pair it with a coupon - you will be under everytime and have to make up for the difference with some other food. LOVE IT!

I have entered the world of...CRAZY couponing!

I did not think I would. Yes, I learned from the "Grocery Guru" in Utah where he would get entire Thanksgiving dinners for $3.45 for $70 worth of food. But it seemed to confusing to try and figure out what was on sale and what I had coupons for, etc. So, I decided I didn't buy the stuff he talked about ANYWAY so why even put energy forth.

I heard the ladies in my ward (church) talking about getting ketchup for $.15 and toothbrushes for $.10 and thought - thats nice. Good for them.

But, I was totally WON over when they did a coupon event this Thursday at R.S. mtg. The girl talked about how she would never pay for soup, toothbrushes, deoderant, razors, feminine products, toothpaste, shampoo, granola bars, cereal AGAIN. She talked about how it was like a game and it was fun. It took her 2 hours a week to organize and check up on a couple website a couple times a day.

She showed how she organizes everything in a binder with baseball card holders, and every coupon in its correct section. Well, that didn't sound bad.
She talked about on some of her purchases, she actually had a NEGATIVE amount she owed and had to buy more things just to get it to a positive amount.

Well, since we just moved and have to REBUILD our food storage and replenish 72 kits, I thought - this is the PERFECT way to build a 2 year supply. I don't mind putting 2-3 hours in a week to beef up on 2 year supply of not just food, but also toiletries, toilet paper, etc, for FREE or for VERY LITTLE.

So, I DID IT. I started and had my first Walgreens experience taking advantage of the Register Rewards. I spent $25, got $23 in register rewards, plus another $5 off purchase of $30 good tomorrow and Wed, where I will get the same products I got today to get another $23 in register rewards and stock up on the sale items. What did I get - a REALLY good razor Brian needed, 2 bags Halls sugar free cough drops - (I usually need 1-2 bags in the winter) toothbrush, floss, raw almonds - 4 canisters). So tomorrow when I make this purchase, it should cost me $23 (which I get for FREE after register Rewards (RR), plus the $5 off, and I get $23 more RR, and I will stock up on chicken broth, tomato sauce and halloween goodies $7 worth for $2.

I also got free Panda express meal on Friday, and free Redbox code on Friday.

I was SO excited when I handed the guy at the register 12 coupons, although he didn't look at happy as me to initial all of them. I saved $10 on top of it all in coupons.

Here are the website I learned about - they are ADDICTIVE - but I love them. Some of them are Chicago based, but can give you an idea:

www.hip2save.com
www.mashupmom.com
www.hotcouponworld.com

I know there are others -but those guys tell you HOW to actually MAKE money by buying things you would get anyway.

I'm committed at least for a year to build up food storage. After that, we'll see :)

Anyone else do these CRAZY coupon deals?

Muscle woman...at the age of 6?!?

So, Brian's dad has been saying for the past two years that Brooke must have GREAT upper body strength because she literally "gallops" on all fours several times a day, and at breathtaking speeds - for a human. Of course, she completes her gallops across the yard with occasional jumps over an obstacle and at the end of her run, she whinnies and neighs with such accuracy, she has actually called live horses to her from across the pasture (I am not kidding!)

In fact, Brian's dad commented that he would put Brooke up against any kid her age in upper body strength - and she would beat them hands down.

Its not that I didn't BELIEVE that or think it might be true, but I just laughed at her galloping and let the comment wash off like water off a duck's back. I thought grandpa was exaggerating to make a point, and possibly biased because she is posterity.

Well, to my suprise, at gym class ALL the first graders had to do as many push ups and sit ups as they could in 1 minute. Many of the kids couldn't get any push ups, some girls got up to 5. A couple boys even got in the upper teens. One boy reached 20. And then Brooke comes and did 31 PUSH UPS, which beat out every class in the 1st grade. So I became a believer that galloping really DOES build great upper body strength.

Then the next day, was sit ups. Several kids did 10, some even 15. One boy got all the way up to 31. And Brooke came and did 34 SIT UPS! Well, apparently galloping also produces a very strong "core" so to speak. Who knew! ?!?!

I can feel a horse galloping movement coming on - Galloping is the new Yoga... or Galloping is the new Soccer...Galloping is the new karate - take your pick.
That Brooke is a Real Horse of a Girl!

It only took 9 years, but we FINALLY....

It only took 9 years, but we FINALLY....

GOT CABLE!! Well, U verse to be precise.

What crossed us over that dark line, you ask? Well, our TV converters (for analogue TVs) were no good in our new house and location unless we got a HUGE antennae. How did we know we needed a HUGE antennae for this? There is actually an antennae information website you go to that will tell you based on how far you live from a tower. We, my friends, are quite far it turns out.

The other thing? Based on my below post this should not surprise you, but I am SO excited about the BYU football team...that yes, it carried me over. Yes,watching ONLINE was plan B...but we got a FAB DEAL...we will get a DVR for FREE, and our whole entire phone + internet + cable bill will only be 14 dollars more than it is now which INCLUDES a DVR and INCLUDES all the ESPN (and other ones I think I will care about) channels. After 6 months, I told Brian it will go up $14 and we might have to be prepared to lower our channel status, or cancel, but at LEAST we will have 6 months. (I know, I feel SOOO cheap admitting that, but HEY...that is who we have to be right now!)

I am convinced we are the only people currently in our entire SUBDIVISION (fairly good sized) that does not have ANY SINGLE SOLITAIRY FORM of TV. Not channels, NADA, ZIP. We only watch movies...occasionally.

As I broke the news to Brian, I could literally FEEL him smiling on the other side of the phone, from EAR to EAR. He told me that was the last thing he expected me to say in a MILLION years when I said, "I have news." The only other thing he said that would have suprised him more..or as much...is if I said, " I am making cookies." If you know me relatively well, you would understand that. If you are still left wondering, go to my fitness blog "www.beautifulafterthebelly.blogspot.com".

ANYWAY, I feel like I am about to entire a whole new world...although I am lamenting a little teensy tiny bit that the house will be less "peaceful." At least I don't have to watch the dancing shows online with all their pixalated and fragmented frustrations!

09-09-09: It WAS golden!

A Golden BIRTHDAY, that is, for Tyler. Our little man is FOUR years old.

The day of his birthday, Brooke and I were rushing to leave the house to go to the bus stop, which is down the street. I asked if he wanted to come.

"No," he said, "I want to stay here with KoKo" (Kylianne).

So we left out the door, and OF COURSE, like always, Tyler changed his mind in 3 seconds and with fervent PASSION decided he MUST go with us to the bus stop.

We were already walking down the sidewalk, but I said, "OK, where's your shoes?"

I see him dissappear behind the front door, and then just as quickly he runs out the door again with something in his hand. He keeps running and then comes to a dead STOP on the driveway.

Well, time was of the essence because we have to walk for 2 minutes to get to the stop, and the bus was going to come ANY MINUTE.

I called loudly 40 feet away " Ok, put on your shoes!" And he continued to look distraught. I walked over to him and then I see he had only one single solitary shoe in his hand. I said distractedly, "Go get your other shoe, we HAVE to go!"

He started WAILING. I could see my neighbor 10 feet away washing his truck shaking his head to himself. I said, "Fine, I'll carry you!" So I started to carry him. I made it TWO feet and said, " There's NO way. You are too heavy. Tyler, you will just have to stay here."

I booked it with Brooke to catch the bus while I head LOUD WAILING filling up the neighborhood from where he was perched on the driveway. Other neighboors poked their heads our of their door to see the commotion.

Well, I decided I would walk with Brooke just until the road curves and then go back. But then Brooke and all the other kids (11 at her stop) all looked over at a little red figure running like FOREST GUMP down the road. He looked like a little red fire ant with little legs that went at lightening speed. Brooke shouted, "Mama, it's Tyler! He's running."

I just started giggling in spite of myself. The little goober ran all the way around the curb and down the rest of the road to the bus stop. He ran to Brooke and gave her hugs and signed "I LOVE YOU" which is our little tradition. I looked down at his feet and I noticed he had two matching shoes on his feet. He somehow in record time went back inside, found shoes, and rammed his feet inside them and took off.

What a kid! He wears his little heart on his sleeve - he's a very tender guy, even while ramming the play school bus into walls occasionally. We LOVE OUR GUY!!

BYU COUGARS DONE ME PROUD!

Did anyone watch that AWESOME game on Saturday night - BYU against Oklahoma?!?!?

Can I just say two words - NAILBITER and WOW.

I was in Cougar Heaven - well afterwards - and I was so "On pins and needles" DURING that I really literally almost couldn't take it.

So I was HOPING that we would get ranked 13 because not many teams below us - our ranking of 20 - lost. I checked the BCS ranking like....well, like a boy...checking Sunday night, Monday several times, early this morning, and finally at noon and I saw the BEAUTIFUL ranking of


(said with reverence) NINE!! (Brian is telling me me how turned on he is by me wanting to listen to the highlights and commentary as much as him - Yeah, TMI)

Yes - in the top 10. Since I am SO rusty with my sports rooting (BYU is the only team I get excited about...although while the Bulls were good back in the day, I rooted for them since I am from Chicago) my husband reminded me that we need to root for Oklahoma from here on out to make our win against them (number three ranked preseason) really MEANS something.

So the season is new, and I am SO jealous of people with SEASON TICKETS - MAn I miss those days!!! I will have to settle for watching on the laptop!

Anyone else getting Revved up for the season???????

ONLINE HOUSEWARMING!!

Welcome to our online housewarming. Since many of you can't come in person, we are bringing it to you. The only thing that prolonged this as long as it has was my procrastination in downloading pictures. But come have a look around!

This is the patio that Brian and I put in - stone pavers - I love it!
This is the square foot garden - the bare one you see is the newest addition. The other ones were so easy to maintain I built another one. The netting backs it up. There are 80 squares.
Note the Zuchinni is growing vertically - this is about 1 1/2 months ago.
This is the kids bathroom - I have since added white candlesticks but you get the basic idea.
This is our bathroom/closet - I love having it - it makes me feel like I live in a hotel.
We decided to still have the computer in our room - every place we lived we have done it. I guess old habits die hard...that and it looked better in here.
A more long range view of the room.
This is the view from the kitchen into the living room. Its nice and open - the way I like living rooms.
This is the island/thing that looks into the kitchen, dining room, and entryway.
Here is our kitchen - I love the cherry cabinets. Its the favorite color of cabinets we have ever had. I have since added other decor on the bar part - but thats the basic.
So, since we don't have a dining room table and wouldn't use it that much if we HAD one, we did a music room/library in the dining room. It makes everything seem so much more open. I will be adding more ikea components to the bookshelf - and upper area...someday...
Here is the entryway - I love the ikea bench by the door that rolls open and can hold about 50 pairs of shoes - lOVE IT!
Here is a view by the piano facing the living room and kitchen.

The kids were asleep while I took these, so I didn't get their rooms, I will post them later. I LOVE the way the color of paint for Brooke and Kylie's room turned out. And I found some great sports decor for Ty's room at Hobby Lobby at 90% off - I LOVE those sales.

And that concludes the tour. To fully appreciate - think of everything being stark white. Thanks to Brian's dad for painting, and to Brian for the many house projects you have helped me do (and for everyone that helped me unpack)! Took awhile for me to post - but I hope you liked how it turned out.

POOR KYLIANNE!!!

Our cute Kylianne has been in a pickle lately. She has not been able to gain weight or really grow much. Now that she is walking people think she must be like 8 months…rather than the 14 months that she is.

So what to do? The pediatrician’s advice? Put OIL and BUTTER on everything. The other problem? Constant diarrhea. What was the pediatrician’s solution – the brat diet: banana, applesauce, toast, and…whatever the r is (brain freeze).

No improvement. The girl has been BELOW “THE CHART” , like -10 or so for awhile. Her height is a decent 20%.

So, luckily we have the BEST doctor ever – that is super knowledgable about nutrition, and does allergy/sensitivity testing and TREATMENT (NAET).

So we had her tested – I was the surrogate tester. (so far) She is allergic to Milk/Dairy, Wheat, Gluten, Yeast, Vinegar, Cold, Candida, and something called “Mylocin” or something like that. That one is the corker. The other ones – no PROBLEM, since I went through all that with tyler.

The Mylocin one means that she can’t have any RAW fruits or veggies (which she loves), nothing from a can, even if I canned it (tomato sauce, beans) and nothing that was frozen (veggies, fruits, meats). So FOR NOW, until we get her treated for that, Cooking is going to be CREATIVE. I will essentially have to cook things special for her (2 separate meals 3 times a day). I usually cook her veggies and then give her egg, at this point, and rice, rice cakes, and rice crackers.

Also, since she can’t have anything “cold” because of her allergy (which I just read about in the Chicago trib in January), she has to drink everything warm, and her food needs to be room temp or warm. She is also on lactobacillus (all strains) and bifodobacterium (all strains) probiotics.

The goal? Solid stools with less frequency (now they are 4 to 5 times/day – not at ALL solid)

So, while all that seems a little overwhelming for the time being, I am SOOOOO glad to know what is going one. And if she has results with NAET like her Brother TYLER (was on 7 meds for asthma, now needs NO MEDS and RARELY has any problems.)

I really really thank everyday that my cousin Angelle told me about NAET!!! Thanks Angelle!

JULY WAS BLISSFUL!!

The one really really great thing about having a husband who is a teacher is the month of JULY!!

Even though I hardly ever see him, it feels like during the school year because of
*doing a 2nd Master's degree
*Bowling Coach
*(now) Elder's Quorum Presidency (church thing for those who are wondering...)
*working 2nd Job at T.R.
*Never ending staff and coaching meetings
*Me working on his "off" nights

So this month I feel like the we, the fam, had him all to ourselves, for ONCE!! It was Lovely!
So how did we choose to take advantage of this rarity?

*We went frisbee disc golfing about 2 or 3 times every week during the evening
*We watched Harry Potter, twice
*We went to Chinatown, Greektown, and the Cheesecake Factory in Downtown Chicago on
National Cheesecake Day (all cheesecakes 1/2 off!)
*We hung out with Brian's siblings who came to Chicago to visit - Mike and Corin and fam, and
Beth and Shawn and family
*We went to Navy Pier
*We went blueberry picking at Michigan City, IN (30 lbs this year at $1.50 /lb)
*We went to the beach MANY times
*We had TWO of our traditional "TEXAS ROADHOUSE STYLE FAMILY BBQs" and made THE
recipe of TO DIE FOR ribs
*We went to Brian's Grandma's funeral (she was an impressive 96!)
*We went miniature golfing - which I unfortunately BOMBED
*We spend many late nights playing Carcassone (like settler's of Catan). We realized playing too
many nights in a row is bad for our marriage
*We checked out movies from the library - ( "Out of Africa "to me seemed like the better version of "Australia", and I can't believe how different Meryl Streep looked!)
*We went to the neighborhood pool several times with the kids
*We went to IKEA as a family (ya gotta have ONE of those a year, I tell you!)
*We welcomed my youngest sister Sarah to stay with us for a few weeks, home from BYU-I.

So, July is gone, but MAN did I enjoy it. It felt like a party everyday.

What will August bring? My younger sister SUSIE is coming home from her NY NY-SOUTH
mission. We are on pins and needles!! GO SUSIE!

Now I see all the back to school sales, and I have to adjust my mind BACK to reality!!!!

9 YEARS OF...

So, these past 9 years have been AWESOME being married to Brian. He TRULY is the BEST most THOUGHTFUL husband...and Dad. He was so cute this morning. He let me sleep in and he got up with the kids. And when I woke up he walked into our room with a BIG GRIN on his face.

I should have suspected something, but sometimes he just does stuff like that, so I didn't think anything of it. After he GRINNED at me without blinking for about 60 seconds (I was doing some exercises on the ground) then he finally said, "I have somehthing for you..."

I was just expecting a card (handwritten), so I was SHOCKED when he gave me 15 ROSES. They were all red, and of course, beautiful, and TOTALLY UNEXPECTED.

Then he paused and said, "That's not all." He then gave me some of my favorite chocolate - 85% dark "Green and Black" chocolate (its VERY creamy!)

Then he paused again and said, "That's not all." He then gave me a VERY sweet card - he just gets better and better at them each year - I almost started crying.

Then he paused again and said, "That's not all." (STILL GRINNING) and he gives me the dvd of "Sense and Sensibility." which I had remarked to him like 7 months ago that I would really like to own that one. I have ALL the other Jane Austin movies - but not that one. And he remembered that little comment 7 months ago.

WHAT A MAN!! NINE years of marriage to him has DONE ME GOOD!!