MONDAY ~

MAN that weekend FLEW by! Matt had to go into work for a while on Saturday so it really did not feel like my special Saturday. HOWEVER, he made up for leaving me with the kids on a Saturday by taking me out that night. We went to a Twilight Movie... (NO, not one of the Twilight Saga Movies, but a Twilight Matinee Showing) We saw The Dilemma.

 You know... the movie with Vince Vaughn and Kevin James. TWO of my favorite comedic actors... AND

 Channing Tatum... Oh, yeah he was in the movie too... It was funny. The premise of the movie is about two best friends. One of the friends sees his best friends wife cheating on him, and everything goes crazy from there. I was not a fan of everything the movie portrayed, but it was funny. I love Vince Vaughn. His characters are always hilarious, and so amazingly witty. And Kevin James's facial expressions get me every time. Channing Tatum is just nice to look at, but in this movie he was not. But his character was a funny one!! It was worth the Matinee Price we got, not sure if it would have been worth the full price admission...
After the movie we went out to eat. This does not happen often, so we decided to go to a sit down place...

Famous Dave's... ever been there? If you have NOT, you are missing out. The food was amazing, and I LOVE the atmosphere... Country Bumpkin, anything goes... only we did not have anything to worry about buy ourselves. It was SO nice to get out with the hubby and no kids. THANKS HARDENS FOR WATCHING MY LITTLE MONSTERS!!
Sunday was nice. We had Stake Conference and we were able to attend it at 10:00am. SOOOO much better than 12:30. Anyways... I went away knowing I need to attend the temple more often. NICE... I put that one on the list! Our next date night will include Dinner and a Movie of another sort! :)

New Game

While I was getting ready, Matt and the kids came up with a new game they LOVE to play...

Here is a good INSIDE game when your kids are bored...

But if you are like me, the is the game only daddy can play with them...

ENJOY!!

Happy Friday!

WARNINGS ~

My visiting teacher came by yesterday to visit me. I LOVE HER. She and I can "gossip" for hours. She is great about asking me how I am doing, and I LOVE hearing about her family. You see she has a little girl who will be 12 soon, and I am SO going to use her to babysit! Landon ALREADY loves her, and this is going to be great because she lives around the corner!!
ANYWAYS that is not what this post is about...

After gabbing she shared something she found with me, and It REALLY hit me...

It is from our Relief Society General President Julie B. Beck...

The title is WARNINGS...

"We know that many sisters live in oppressive or dangerous circumstances. Some are constantly hungry, and some must summon daily courage to continue in faith despite disappointments and being betrayed by others. Because we are living in the last days of earth, there are signs of a great struggle everywhere. Myths and misperceptions regarding the strength, purpose, and position of Latter-day Saint women abound. Prevailing myths imply that we are of lower importance than men, that we are generally sweet but uninformed, and that no matter what we do, we will never be ENOUGH to be accepted by our Heavenly Father. As the Apostle Peter said, there are "false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that brought them."
The Book of Mormon describes what is happening:
"For behold, at that day shall (Satan) rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good."
"And others will he pacify, all lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well- and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell."
"And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none-and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains."
In the growing climate of ENTITLEMENT, EXCUSE, APATHY, and ENTICEMENT, daughters of God who are not watchful, prayerful, and inspired are increasingly at risk of becoming what the scriptures describe as "silly women" who worship a variety of "strange gods". Sadly, as a result of life's difficulties and the world's popular heresies, many sisters believe the myths more than the truth. Their misalignment with God's plan is demonstrated in findings that many are not doing essential things such as praying and reading the Scriptures. The Lord himself has said that "this is a day of warning, and not a day of many words."

How many of us think we are not enough??

Yet we go to church and know the teachings that if we do our best, God will help us with the rest!

WE (and I am mostly speaking to myself) need to be doing the right things at the right time not matter what others are doing.

And WE need to not worry about being the best mother, daughter, sister.... wife.

All We need to do our best, and ask for help when we need it.

I am not going to let Satan tell me I am not enough! Who is with me??

LET ME GO!!!

Sit Back, Relax, and get ready for a GOOD Laugh with this one...

SO... Hailey is NOT a fan of church ever since she started going to Primary. Almost every time we just step foot into a church building she starts to fight us. She is not stupid... she knows what is coming...
So this last week we were visiting my parents. When we visit my parents ward we try REAL hard to be on time. ONE, because that makes my father happy who is ALWAYS on time, and TWO my family sits in the very front pew for Sacrament Meeting.
This week were were running a little late. TWO to FIVE minutes maybe... which meant we had to walk in while our dear friend Brother Alconcel was conducting and opening the meeting. I was going to go and sit in the back (like we do at our home ward) but my family's pew in the front row was open so I decided to go there... BAD IDEA...
I grab Hailey's hand and start walking. I have my diaper bag in the other hand, and Matt is carrying Landon and our church bag. About half way to our pew Hailey decides she does not want to go and so she stops walking, which leads to me dragging her because I am already walking in front of all these people... UGH... THEN Hailey decided she needed to show her TRUE self and starts yelling "Let me go, LET ME GO..." After about her yelling his for the fifth time I make it to our seats. My dad is speaking, so he was seated directly in front of me... Brother Alconcel stopped talking and was 'taking it all in' and after we sat I think he giggled and said "OK..." I just looked at my Dad, dropped Hailey's hand and SMILED at him... WHAT an entrance RIGHT?
So then after we take the sacrament, Landon decides he is done and just starts walking for the door. Luckily Sharon ran after him. He came back in after a little while, but then talked grandma into taking him out because he was being loud.
It came time for my father to get up and speak and he said "Those are my grandchildren that are making all the noise." as his opening to his talk... not sure if he was proud of that or not... LOL!
Then while I was enjoying his talk, out of the corner of my eye I see Hailey LEAP off the pew onto the floor... REALLY??
Next time we come to visit my parents we are SITTING IN THE BACK!!
Luckily after Sacrament Meeting ended I had a few people come up to me and thank me for the good laugh they got. I was TOTALLY embarrassed, but after hearing that I made a few peoples day with how cute my kids were while they acted out I felt a little better...
So to all those moms who are completely mortified about the things your kids do, just remember... there are PLENTY of people who have "been there done that" watching you and laughing hopefully WITH you...

GRANDMA AND GRANDPA...

Hailey had been saying she wanted to see her Grandma and Grandpa ever since she got to open her present from them on Christmas. We have been trying to stick it out here on the weekends to get her used to going to Primary, so we just told her we would go soon...
Well, to be honest... MOMMY needed a break, and DADDY wanted to go snowboarding, so we called off our "Get Hailey Used To Primary Stand" and packed up the car and headed for a quick little trip. I LOVE these trips. I get SO much help from my parents and siblings with the kids, it is relaxing. AND I get wife points for letting my hubby go snowboarding with my little brother... WIN WIN!!!
This trip was special because we got to celebrate Landon's Birthday with them too. We meet them on our drive up at Red Robin in Elk Grove. RED ROBIN.... YUMMMMMMM!!! Have I told you all how much I love Red Robin before??
Landon got to open a few presents that were not there for his birthday... he got a Toy Story Lunchbox from his auntie Sharon; 2 cute summer outfits, balls, and Juicy Juice toys from the Richardson's. The balls were ALL over the place at the restaurant, he LOVES to throw! And the picture below shows you that he loves his lunchbox right??...

YES, this is him sleeping in the playroom holding his Toy Story Lunchbox while he was "watching" what else... Toy Story 3 after lunch. Did you notice he also has on a Toy Story Shirt? haha! This little kid makes me laugh on a daily basis!
After dinner we shopped a little and headed home to sleep up! Of course I stayed up watching NONSENSE shows with my little sister... this time Sharon introduced me to "The Baggage Show" I doubt that is the name of the show, but whatever. There are 3 contestants trying to win a date with another contestant of the opposite sex. They have three suitcases with 'baggage' in them... Jerry Springer was the host. As funny as it was, it was still S.T.U.P.I.D...
We woke up the next morning left the boys with the kids and went shopping. FUN! I love shopping with my mom. She cracks me up... Thank You Target Slurpee for helping us make it through the day... we had to be home by 2:00 pm for Matt and Preston to go Night Snowboarding at Boreal, and we were a little late... We got home and they were in the car ready to go and the kids were helping grandpa with yard work. They LOVE to be outside, they played in the front, then the backyard, then they talked me into taking them to the park...FUN! Fort Natomas is just down the street from my parents house, and it is a neat new park. In fact my Dad helped build it so he could take his grand kids there to enjoy it and tell them about how he had helped make the playground. (Don't you just LOVE Dads!)

(Fort Natomas Playground)

After the playground we went home and chilled. Everyone got home safe and sound from their activities and we went to church on Sunday. After spending more time after church and eating some FAB cake we headed to the other Grandparents house for dinner and family fun. We got to see Matt's brothers. It is nice to be able to catch up every once and a while. I saw my little niece Rylie who is GROWING like a WEED! We ate dinner, let the kids play for a little bit, then headed home. Besides the CRAZY FOG we had on the way home, the WHOLE trip was very fun and rewarding. Now I just need to remember to take picture the next time we go for a visit! OH how I LOVE MY FAMILY! :)

GOT SNOT??

Have you ever been going somewhere with the kids, and when you get there and take the kid out of the car you notice BOOGIE'S all over their face? Dried up Boogies, Bubble Boogies while they breath, Boogies Boogies EVERYWHERE??

Yeah Mommies... you know what I am talking about...

And so you think; Oh I'll just wipe them with a Kleenex. Yeah, that won't get the dried up crap...

So you grab a Wipe... but you worry about washing your kids face with the wipe because they have sensitive skin, PLUS you have to push hard to get the crap off...

Well... let me tell you... I have the ANSWER to your prayers...

BOOGIE WIPES!

My little man has a little cold and all the wonderfulness that comes with it. I ran to Target to grab him some medicine, but there is NOTHING for my little 2 year old for colds... (why did they take away the drugs again) so while I was looking for Saline Spray to help clear out his nose I came across these...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH..........

HEAVEN! They wipe EVERYTHING off, AND I got the GRAPE scented kind so he does not fuss too much because they smell SO good!!

Grandma Andersen bought them because I was hesitant to spend $3.99 on something I thought my wipes would do just fine... LET ME JUST TELL YOU... it is SO WORTH IT!

You can all thank my later. I accept Thank Yous in the form of Boogie Wipes... :)

HAPPY BOOGIE WIPING!!

PlayStation3

Matt gets his panties all in a bunch when I talk about our new "game station" ... APPARENTLY if you call anything a game station you don't know what you are talking about...

ANYWAYS... Since I really don't know what I am talking about I will just tell you this little video you are about to watch...

Landon learned a little trick... Matt bought this PS3 about a month ago and it has been left alone for the most part by the kids...

However today I caught him figuring out how this fun little thing works...

" I did it!" is another one of his new phrases he says...

Luckily Mommy was there to stop him before he put the game in the wrong way.

PROOF for my hubby that I do something nice for him everyday...

Crumbs

~ I would like to thank my children today for a few things today...

FIRST THANK YOU both for showing me all the CRUMBS that were in the couch cushions... GROSS... AND for making that great hot mess of a playhut with them...

 which turned me into CLEAN mode... UGH...

AND this picture does not do the crumbs justice... they were ALL OVER!!

 SECOND I would like to thank Landon for "catching" me this morning with the Fishing Pole. You see this toy USED to bother me before because when you turned the handle a CrAnKiNg NoIsE was heard and was SO annoying... but somehow it broke and it no longer makes the annoying noise. Usually when a toy breaks I toss it in the trash, but in this instance since it is broken I now LIKE the toy THUS we will keep it...

And LAST but NOT LEAST... I would like to thank my SWEET little lady Hailey for going potty ALL BY HERSELF this morning after breakfast. It is our "routine" to wake up, eat, then potty, and she did it ALL ON HER OWN, and she went NUMBA TWO and wiped her own bumbum... YEAH...

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE POTTY TRAINING TUNNEL I SEE YOU!!! (that is until Landon starts...)
AND a little side note... my black furniture REALLY shows dust... I don't like that very much... UGH!

11 Lessons to those deciding if they should have Children...

So... I saw this on my cousins blog, and I WISH I would have seen this before I had my kids. This is TRUTH people... if you are wanting children, currently pregnant, or just had your first baby READ THIS: (then you can't say I never warned you!!) All the other parents read along and LAUGH at how good these lessons are!

"Lesson 1"
1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time.


"Lesson 2" - Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...
1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child’s breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.
Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.



"Lesson 3" - A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...
1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)
2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive, remember, all that salary is going back to the store for formula, diapers, etc.)
Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.



"Lesson 4" - Can you stand the mess children make? To find out...
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed...
4. ...then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.
6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?
(Camie did #5 to my small photo album of our honeymoon yesterday. Scribbled all over the front of it)


"Lesson 5" - Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.
Time allowed for this - all morning.


"Lesson 6" - Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don’t think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don’t look like that.
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.



"Lesson 7"
Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week’s groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.
(This is why I go to the grocery store later at night by myself after the kids are asleep)


"Lesson 8"
1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.
Congratulations! You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.


"Lesson 9"
Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you’re thinking “What’s Noggin?” Exactly the point.)



"Lesson 10"
Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying “mommy” repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each “mommy”; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.



"Lesson 11"
Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the “mommy” tape made from Lesson 10. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.


Hehehe, pretty good, eh? HAPPY PARENTING!!

BOUNCING and WORKING

WORD to the wise... NEVER go to a "bounce house establishment" on a HOLIDAY that schools are out. It will be RIDICULOUS and you will worry about your little ones being trampled almost the WHOLE time... the other part of the time you will not worry about them is when you are BOUNCING with them, and then you will be worrying about yourself being able to stand a whole HOUR and a HALF of this FUN...

 This is the kids near the end of Jump time at PUMP IT UP... BOTH took down their water like I had been depriving them of it for the last week...

 And we were SO lucky to be joined by Daddy (seen partly above) and our friend Megan and her daughter Reagan seen below...

 That picture explains how we all felt at the end of play time. I was going to "workout" that day, but I am SURE running around after two kids for that long made up for the missed workout...

We decided to grab a quick lunch and go back to see Daddy's work... Hailey REALLY liked the ceramics Matt had out... she only broke one...

 And Landon liked all the bottles and was enjoying stacking them to help Daddy with his organization....

Then he found this hard hat and wanted to play with that...
It was a nice day... we got home and we all napped. Good Times!!