boy

Rhen eating his "Yucky Arms" (lucky charms).

One of a Kind

Ever since I met Stacie 18 years ago she has had an unusual quirk. Whenever we get pizza she will peel off the cheese and toppings and just eat the crust with a little sauce on top. So it's technically not a pizza anymore. More like slightly sauced flat bread. Now you'd think this would be advantageous for me because i could get whatever pizza I want since she'll only eat the crust anyway. Nope, if she is going to remove the cheese and toppings, the pizza really should be just ham with fresh tomatoes - apparently it just tastes better that way (after you take everything off). This never bothered me, it's just one of those quirks that makes her who she is and I love her for it. Luckily for me, pizza with ham and fresh tomatoes is my favorite.

The other day we took the family to dinner at the pizza place where Stacie and I met a long time ago. Half way through the meal I looked around the table and Stacie, Addie, Chloe and Elsie all had a pile of cheese and ham on their plates. They were just finishing up their crust. Ironically, Rhen would love to eat their cheese and ham, but he is Lactose intolerant. We were going to get him a sweater vest and pocket protector to wear with that condition, but we decided that's stereotype-ism and we won't be a part of that system.


This story reminds me of the time we went to dinner with the Cochran's in St George and Stacie ordered a Quesadilla without the cheese. The waitress was completely confused and said, "So you just want a tortilla?" We all had a good laugh about that one. I think she ended up with just, like a salad.

There's just no one quite like Stacie. Love ya Stac, I'm not even kidding.

boy how time flies

My older girls 5 years ago still have the same attitude as in this first picture. Addie wanting to do whats right and follow orders, chloe off in whateverland :) and Elsie not wanting to hold still. Although I miss these days, I have fun watching them getting older. I have to laugh, though, because they still exibit these same traits today.
They are off to Camp Hobe for this whole week! Camp Hobe, a camp for cancer patients and their siblings is a great place to bond with those who have gone through similar obsticles and have some needed fun. It is quiet around our house, we don't even get to call them to see how things are but I am sure they are having fun and meeting new friends. We pick them up on friday, it weird to just have two little ones in the house. We miss them!

whip it good

After a crazy disaster with my fourwheeler, my massive bruise on my leg is finally turing a light yellow apple color, I can finally put my leg in a pair of paints without lifting it with my hand or contorting my face, but my whip lash will not go away. Today my head fills like it is 10 pounds (as most days). I must of hit it pretty good (thank goodness for the helmet I almost wasn't going to wear). It is hard to feel that way and still go about life. I am not one to take medication for things so maybe it my own fault, but I do hope it goes away.
What has kept my mind off my neck, and has gotten me to keep up on all the chores around house without it being soooo boring is audio books on my ipod. I pop those earphones in my ears and can handle the chores of the day. I even find myself doing other things I wouldn't normally do everyday so I can listen to a book :). Now if itunes would only rent out the books.

The Weekend

We had an opportunity to spend a little time in WY with family to frame up a redwood greenhouse for the folks. It was cold and a little rainy, but you can't beat the fresh air or the views. This is what we ended up with at the end of the day.

We took a little ride up to Cottonwood Lake and considered the rope swing, but spent too much time using winches and snatch blocks to pull my 4wheeler out of the deep snow i got it buried in. I was really stuck. Everyone gave me a hard time about it, but I contest it was the price I paid by blazing a trail for the rest of them to get through. And it was pretty funny hearing Stacie refer to the winch as a wench. Two very different things - one gets you into serious trouble, the other gets you out.

On the way home Stacie got a little too agressive and went over the handlebars while blasting through some snow. I think Rhen gets his dare devil-ness from her. She's a bit sore now, but very pleased she wore a helmet purchased at Pure Offroad otherwise it would have been much more painful for all of us 'cause we can't live without her.

a five lily bouquet to my door

On the saturday before mothers day five lilies came to my door. I was so surprised, I love Lilies they were so pretty and the bouquet was heavy and the delivery guys joked he will now get better gas mileage. To my awesome husband who remembered I can now have fresh flowers in my house after 5 years of not being able to have them (because of chlo pie's cancer treatments) I say thank you. Five lilies for every year I couldn't send you flowers the card said (I had forgotten for a minute why it had been so long) and five for our five beautiful kids. Thank you so much for remembering Jake, and for my mothers/birthday gift, it rocked(I was so surprised).

I gotta weakness for...

these delightful treats. Cruchy on the outside soft on in the middle can't be beat in my mind. I love chocolate chip cookies. Everytime we have clinic, I get one from the hospital or Jake is nice enough to feed my weakness and brings one home to me, they are the best! When I don't have time to make them I have found, in the refridgerated section of the grocery store, they sell ones called simply. And they are simply delightful (and easy). My mouth is watering for them, but since I had three *twinkies yesterday (i know shame shame) I better stay away from treats for a bit.


*rough day and Jake brought them home(thanks to Hudson) and I haven't had them for a long time and boy they were good. hummm maybe they should have their own post :).

cause I'm Ms Brightside

Addie is a very postitive thinker. She tries to look at the brightside of most every situation (well besides math haha). She very responsible,and takes pride in her school work. She is into music a lot and gets to download a song for every A she gets at school. She will be turning 12 this summer, everyone tells me she looks and acts way older than she is. I agree. She will get to go to girls camp with me and I don't know if she will view that as a good thing but I think it will be fun.

We Love our ipod wearing girl (humm) I mean, young women (crazy I will have a 12 year old in two months).

Chlo- pie the reading fool

Chloe has been reading a ton. She doesn't just read one book, she reads three to four at a time. She is reading Helen Keller bio, she just finished the fifth Harry Potter, she just began Fable Haven and occasionally she read Dear Dumb Diary.
She is always full of information and retains a ton of facts she learns. When she learns about sea otters, she comes home and tells us all about them starting with "Did you know that..." So now we are hearing about Helen Keller. It is very cute, she is so excited to learn and doesn't take it for granted. She always thanks us for anything she gets to do. Love ya Ooee :).

Elsie-ism

I watch Pride and Prejudice (both versions) in the spring and fall. They are my favorite movies. As we watched them Addie, Chloe, Elsie, and I we were at the part where they are at Rosing Park dining with Kathrine Deburg. Mr Colins was told that he can't sit by his wife. Addie wondered why they couldn't sit by each other, and Elsie snickered and said cause they would kiss and stuff.
The funny thing is later I heard somewhere, she was right! Gotta love that girl.

Elsie has become a great reader this year and tries to keep up with her older sisters. She has sooooo much energy, she can't even sit still to eat. She will bounce up and down and up and down, shaking her legs and wiggle her bum, all while shoveling a fork full of something I have made for dinner. The statement we say ALOT at our house is, Elsie sit down and just eat. I wish I could have some of her energy!